


Peace

by JWade



Series: Asgard [4]
Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-23 07:20:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 40,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11984952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/pseuds/JWade
Summary: Part 4 of the Asgard series. Now that war has been avoided, it's time to learn to live in peace. Dean(Styrk) and Cas adjust to being thrust into parenthood, Sam(Hjert) and Loki consider expanding their own family, while Thor struggles with being separated from his soulmate and the politics of two rulers coming together, and Michael attempts to find a way to bring the free angels home.





	1. Chapter 1

Styrk focused on his bond with Cas and transported himself, hoping that Ben was with him because he didn’t know if he could manage to go searching right now. He reappeared in the courtyard where it seemed that Ben was trying to teach Cas to play soccer. Before he got a chance to laugh at the sight, Ben cried, “DAD!” and rushed towards him, nearly bowling him over with the hug. 

“Oof. Easy kiddo. Dad’s a little sore right now,” he said with a low chuckle. 

Ben immediately let go and stepped back. “Will you be okay?” he asked worriedly. 

“You bet kiddo. Just gotta go get out of my armor and then go see Uncle Loki for some heals and I’ll be as good as new. I wanted to let you know I was back and okay first though,” he told him and Ben beamed at him. Apparently, he’d made the right choice. 

“You want me to go find Uncle Loki for you?” he asked hopefully. He wanted to do something to help and his dad didn’t look up to searching for himself.

Styrk was about to say something about how Thor had probably already found him, being in need of healing himself, but realized that Ben just wanted to be useful so he said, “That would be much appreciated. I think Thor’s looking for him too so just tell them I’ll be in the armory.”

“Okay!” Ben said running off towards the castle. Styrk gave Cas a quick kiss before flaming out to the armory to start the painful process of removing his armor. He found Thor still there, getting out of his own, and let him know that Ben was hunting down Loki for some heals. Thor nodded gratefully and went back to struggling with his own armor and Styrk noticed why it was taking him so long and went over to help. It seemed that one of Thor’s arms was broken and the shoulder pulled out of the socket. Styrk ended up needing to help him with the breastplate, the dragonhide, and the chainmail layers, but thankfully Thor managed to take care of the lower half himself before helping Styrk with his. Styrk had a few broken ribs of his own and some serious bruising on his back and shoulder blades so the help was greatly appreciated. 

They had just managed to get down to their tunics and pants when Loki came in with Hjert and Ben. Loki reached out a hand to each of their foreheads and sent a burst of healing, glad that they were already out of their armor. He wouldn’t have been able to heal them through it. Not as well at least. They both sighed in relief as all their aches and pains faded away and then hugs were exchanged all around. “It’s done?” Loki asked to confirm. 

“It’s done,” Thor said with a nod. 

“And Michael?” he asked worriedly. He had known that win or lose he wouldn’t be coming back right away because of the need to get the angels in hand, but he really need the reassurance, even though he was sure that Thor would be much worse off if anything had happened to him. 

“In heaven, getting everything settled. He’ll be by when he can,” Thor told him sadly. 

Loki reached out a hand to Thor’s shoulder and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. He could relate to being separate from your soulmate after all. “He’ll be back. Don’t worry,” he assured him, knowing that Thor needed to hear it. 

Thor reached up to Loki’s hand on his shoulder and patted it gratefully. “Thank you, Loki. I know,” he said with a slight smile. 

“Well I think this calls for a celebration!” Loki said with a wild gleam in his eye. 

“Not a ball!” Styrk said quickly and desperately and the rest of the room burst into laughter. Styrk was never going to get over his phobia of balls. 

“I was thinking…more like a feast,” Loki managed through his guffaws. 

“Oh. That’s okay then,” Styrk said with a chuckle of his own. “But just for us, the staff, and the council,” he said not wanting it to become a huge production. As it was that would be more than fifty people. Twenty advisors, thirty-two staff and the six of them. 

They headed out to the entrance hall and asked Mattie to get the word to the staff and council to meet in the formal dining hall for a feast in two hours, and get the word out to the other royals that heaven was back in control and the war was averted. “Of course, my lords,” she said with a grin, glad that all of her kings had come home safely, and they would all remain that way. 

While Thor and Styrk were handling that, Styrk and Cas were running through the feast etiquette with Ben and throwing in a little of the normal castle etiquette as well. Since he was Styrk’s son it thankfully wasn’t much to remember since he was a higher station than anyone save the kings, but they did stress the importance of treating everyone with respect and kindness. 

The feast went off without a hitch and was filled with much joy and relief. Ben did wonderfully, remembering to remain standing until all the kings had been seated and when in doubt of which utensil to use, watched someone else. As a child, it wouldn’t have been a big deal if he messed up and they made sure to tell him that, so as not to put too much pressure on him, but he acquitted himself well anyway and found himself the object of much attention over the course of the evening. 

About halfway through the meal, Hjert leaned over to Styrk and proudly said, “Lisa did a good job with him.”

“She did,” Styrk agreed. “I was never that polite as a kid,” he added as he watched Ben converse with Tyr, looking excited at whatever the war god was talking to him about. He just hoped that Tyr remembered that he was just a kid and didn’t need to hear about too much violence and bloodshed. Of course Tyr had children and grandchildren of his own, so he was sure he could sensor himself. 

“You’re not that polite now,” Hjert teased, pulling laughs from Loki and Cas on either side of them. Styrk resisted the urge to throw some food at his brother and settled for sticking his tongue out at him, causing those paying attention to laugh harder. 

When it was Ben’s bedtime, so Styrk and Cas excused themselves to go put him to bed while Thor, Loki, and Hjert stuck around for another hour or so chatting before breaking everything up. They still had the rest of the night to enjoy before the sun came up and they had to spend the day in the court. Thor and Loki peeled off to the game room, while Hjert wanted to spend some time in the library. 

Styrk and Cas curled up together on the couch once Ben was in bed. “I know this whole kid thing kinda got sprung on you out of the blue, but you’re okay with it right?” Styrk asked worriedly, now that they had time to really discuss the matter. 

“Of course. Your family is my family Styrk. Always. You had no more warning than I did. How are you handling it?” Cas turned the question around on him. 

“It’s a lot to take in. I mean, I’m happy, don’t get me wrong. I never imagined that I would get lucky enough to have a kid, but it’s just so sudden. Like you said, I had no warning. If I had known I could have been spending time with him all along, and gotten to know him before all this. I just wish I knew why Lisa never told me. I don’t even know how much he knows about me other than the brief time I met him when he was little.”

“He told me last night that after his mother got sick, and they told her she was dying, that she told him all she knew about you. She told him that you didn’t know that he was your son, so he doesn’t hold your absence against you,” Cas assured him. “He said he wishes he had known too.”

“He didn’t happen to say whether she told him why she lied to me did he?” Styrk asked hoping that question wouldn’t go forever unanswered. 

“He said that he asked her that but all she said was that she thought it was best that way.”

Styrk nodded. He didn’t really expect Ben to have an answer that would satisfy him, if such a thing existed. He was torn between grief at Lisa’s death and anger at her for keeping this from him, but he wouldn’t take it out on Ben. He decided to just be grateful that he’d had some kind of warning at least. It would be hard enough for him to adjust without it having been as unexpected as it was for Styrk.


	2. Chapter 2

Cas went to bed not long after Ben did, and Styrk went with him. For a little while at least. He wasn’t much for sleeping now that he didn’t have to anymore, and got bored easily, but he made love to his husband and laid there with him until he fell asleep, before he headed out of the bedroom to find something to amuse himself in the suite. They had long since decided not to get a television for a few reasons. First, it would be difficult to explain how they were able to get it working since there was no electricity in Asgard and creating electricity to run it was something that only Loki could do with his archangel powers. Second, television was a distraction that they could ill afford. Even with not sleeping, the rare downtime they had was usually spent playing games, going to the fairgrounds, and sparring. Styrk in particular would be tempted to waste away in front of the television rather than doing something more productive. Tonight was one of the few times that he was regretting their lack of a television though. 

He didn’t really want to leave while Cas and Ben were sleeping. He had needed to last night, but tonight was different. He was sure he would get over that eventually, but for now, he felt the need to be close to his son. Especially since he would be away from him all day tomorrow. He was glad that Cas had offered to skip the court sessions to be with Ben, at least until he knew his way around a little more and was more comfortable exploring on his own. Being a king consort instead of a full king allowed him more leeway on such things. It was designed for when the consort was pregnant and caring for children, though they were free to use it as they wished. This situation fell under the caring for children part so either way, it was warranted, even though Ben was old enough to be on his own given that the castle staff would look out for him as well. 

He considered what he would need to get done to help Ben adjust and make the decision he would need to make eventually, not that Styrk would let anyone rush him on it. He knew that right now, Ben wanted to become a god, but that there was a lot that he hadn’t considered that may change his mind. He pulled over a parchment and pen and began to make a list of books that he could assign that would give him the information he needed, including books on the nature and culture of the pagans, their relations with humans and other species, politics and etiquette, and most importantly a guide for humans looking to become a pagan. He and Hjert hadn’t had much of a choice due to the corner they had been backed into, not that they regretted it, but he was determined that his son would make an informed decision with all of the information that they had available. He would also set aside some time after dinner each night for himself, Cas, and his brothers to sit down with Ben and answer any questions he may have. He decided to take a quick library trip to grab the needed books since it wouldn’t take long. That way he could have them ready before Ben woke up. 

He would also need to see about arranging a tutor to come to the castle for Ben’s core subjects and get a schedule settled. He had heard that kids need routine. He would probably set up lessons in the mornings, reading and sports in the afternoon, and then family time in the evening. On second thought, he should probably wait until Ben had made a decision on his future before getting a tutor. If he wanted to stay human then he would need human subjects like science, geography, and human history which would be inconsequential if he chose to become pagan. He could give it a few weeks before a decision needed to be made and if Ben had yet to decide, he would teach him the human subjects anyway just in case he needed them. He would have forever to learn the pagan subjects if he went that way after all. 

In the meantime, he had promised Ben a trip to the fairgrounds so that would be the next day after the court session and maybe he could make some friends there. Thankfully about half of the kids games didn’t require powers since children were still coming into their powers and learning to use them. The other half were designed to help them exercise their powers, but there would be plenty that Ben could do. The performers would be a big hit as well. He was sure that Ben would love it. 

Ben had apparently not reached the age to have teenage sleeping habits yet, since he woke with the sun. Cas, used to doing so as well, wasn’t long behind him and they sat down for a small family breakfast in the suite. “So what are we doing today?” Ben asked when he was about halfway through breakfast and thus awake enough to consider the matter. 

“Well, I have to be in court all day, but you’ll be hanging out with papa,” Styrk told him, having picked up on Ben’s decided name for Cas. “I got you some books from the library to study too.”

“What are you doing in court? Are people in trouble?” Ben asked curiously. 

Styrk chuckled. “Not that kind of court, kiddo. The royal court. It basically deals with any issues regarding running the country that the kings need to know about and handle.”

“Can I come?” 

Styrk blinked for a moment at the surprise question, though now that he thought about it he wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Ben had shown an intense curiosity about pretty much everything since he got here. Still… “It’s pretty boring,” he told him. 

“That’s okay. I still want to come,” he said hopefully. 

Styrk was suddenly finding it very difficult to say no to his son, especially when he couldn’t think of a good reason to do so. “I’ll tell you what. You study this book this morning,” he handed over the book called Etiquette of the Royal Court, “and Papa can bring you to the afternoon session, okay?” 

“Okay!” Ben said cheerfully as he grabbed the book from his father’s hand. The whole idea of the royal court seemed so cool to him that he doubted he would be bored. 

“Finish your breakfast first,” Dean said with a chuckle as Ben started to open the book and read it right there at the table. 

“Sorry, Dad,” he said sheepishly setting the book to the side and returning to his food. His mother had always hated when he read at the table too. 

After breakfast, Styrk donned his royal robes and crown and headed down to the throne room, meeting his brother’s in the antechamber. “Just a heads up, Ben will probably be coming to the afternoon session.”

“He’ll be bored out of his mind,” Loki pointed out amusedly. 

“I know, and I told him that, but he still wanted to come. I told him only if he studied the court etiquette book this morning, but he seemed pretty eager about it.”

“We’ll make sure the visitor’s gallery is set up for him then,” Thor said just as amused. He remembered his first court session when he was about Ben’s age. It took maybe twenty minutes before he regretted coming. His father had tried to warn him as well, but he didn’t listen either. He was pulled out of his nostalgia when it was time for them to enter. 

As Styrk had expected, the first thing the court brought up was Ben. That was part of the reason they didn’t want him to come until the afternoon session. Mani was the one to bring it up. “Forgive us my lords, but we wished to directly confirm the rumor that the child Benjamin is King Styrk’s human son?” 

“He is,” Styrk confirmed. 

“Will he be petitioning for entrance into the family?” Snotra asked. 

“That will be his decision, and as he has only known about us for two days, he has yet to make a decision,” Styrk told them. “Since he is too young to undergo the trials, I know that it would need a unanimous decision by all of us here to approve his entry if he is to join before he is of age.”

“I move that we vote now, so that he does not have to face the possibility of disappointment when he decides,” Tyr suggested. “If it is decided that he should wait until he is of age to undergo the trials, there is no need for him to consider the matter now.”

Styrk considered it for a moment and thought that it made sense. “I agree,” he said with a nod. What followed was an intense discussion, with the fact that he would be in line for the crown considered being an argument for and against acceptance. While they were nervous about having no one to step up should their kings fall, they were also nervous about letting someone who was human in line for the crown without going through the trials. Another point was his age. He was only a few years away from being able to undergo the trials so some thought that he should just wait until then, while others argued that he would be much farther behind others his age in the use of his powers if that was the case. It was far better to grow into powers rather than get them all at once like Styrk and Hjert had to. It made for an easier adjustment all around. 

In the end, it took the entire two-hour first session before the discussion ended and they voted. While some were still on the fence, since the majority were in favor, they decided to vote in the affirmative as well. No one was truly against the idea so the motion passed. Should Ben decide to become a pagan, they would be able to perform the ceremony right away. After the recess they moved on to more mundane issues.


	3. Chapter 3

As recess was ending during the afternoon session, Ben came in at the back of the hall and walked towards the dais at the back. He tried to look cool and confident, and did a decent job of it, but anyone paying attention could tell that he was nervous. He had read and absorbed the book, so he knew what to do, but putting it into practice was nerve-wracking. When he reached the front, he knelt in front of the kings and said formally, “Father, Uncles, I request permission to observe the court this afternoon.” 

Styrk gave a proud smile. ”Permission granted. You may rise and go to the visitor gallery,” he said pointing the area out, and Ben got up and smiled back at his father before rushing over there and sitting next to Cas who had come in through the anteroom during the recess. Rather than take his throne, he was going to sit over here with Ben so he wasn’t alone. He missed the approving nods of the majority of the council, too glad that he hadn’t made a fool of himself to pay much attention to anything else. 

Court resumed with a discussion about the current power distribution. Apparently, the weather gods had been complaining that they didn’t have enough power to do their jobs and the crops were starting to suffer. It took the remainder of the session to check all the projections, and see where they could redistribute the power and give orders for it to be done. 

True to the adult’s predictions, Ben was bored stiff. This was even more boring than school. He was determined not to disappoint his father though, so managed to keep from falling asleep or anything else so undignified. He did quite a bit of fidgeting though and didn’t catch the amused looks that were sent his way from the kings and the council. He managed to make it through and when the session was officially ended, he slumped in his chair in relief. 

Styrk, Loki, Hjert, and Thor walked over to them and motioned them to come out of the gallery. It was common for the court to stick around for a little while and mingle though the kings could stay or go as the wished. “So, what did you think? Did you have fun?” Styrk asked with a spark of mischief in his eyes. 

“Oh…um…yeah…it was fun,” Ben lied unconvincingly. 

“That’s great,” Styrk said with a grin. “So next time we meet we’re gonna be looking over some requests for new shops and…” he started explaining their agenda for next time just waiting for Ben to stop him. 

He was only about halfway through when Ben gave it up and said, “I don’t have to come do I?” 

They all laughed. “No, kiddo. You don’t have to come,” Styrk said ruffling his hair. 

“You know, when I was about your age, I begged my parents to let me come to court too and they eventually agreed,” Thor told him. 

“And you liked it?” Ben interrupted. 

“Oh, no. I hated it. It was the most boring thing I’d ever had to sit through. I swore then and there that I would never be a king if it meant that I had to do stuff like that,” Thor said with a chuckle. 

“Then why do you do it?” Ben asked curiously. 

“Because someone has to,” Thor told him. “I love my people, and I will do whatever it takes to take care of them. It’s like being a parent. You know how parents have to do a lot of things that aren’t fun or that they don’t like to do to take care of their kids right?” 

“Like cooking and cleaning and driving us places and stuff?” 

“Exactly. And all of my people are like my children. It’s my job and your dads’ and uncles to take care of them, and sometimes that means doing boring stuff like this,” Thor told him. Styrk stood back and let Thor handle this one. He was the only one who could tell Ben about growing up as a prince. He had been an adult when he stepped into this after all. 

“So, if I decide to become like you guys, I’ll have to be ready to do all this too?” 

Thor gave him an encouraging smile. “No, kiddo. You don’t have to be ready to be a king. Even we’re not ready to be kings. No one ever is. That’s why we have the council to give us advice. If you decide to become one of us, you would only have to step in if all of us died somehow and even then you would have plenty of people helping you. The only thing you truly need to be ready for is to love your people and that’s the most important thing for a prince or a king to do.”

“Well, I can do that. But please don’t die,” Ben said seriously and they all chuckled lightly at that. 

The council members milling around nearby were surreptitiously listening carefully. They wanted to get the measure of their potential prince and came away feeling much more secure in the decision that was reached before. He was still a child and had a long way to go, but his immediate willingness to love the people and the way that he treated it as though it was obvious and easy to do was comforting. His behavior during the session told a lot about him as well. Despite the fact that he was obviously bored and wanted to be anywhere else, he wasn’t disruptive. He didn’t whisper with his other father. He didn’t kick the legs of the chair or the banister or make any distasteful noises. Those who were there back then could attest to the fact that he was far better behaved than Thor was when he had attended at the same age and had done all of those things. Even at his young age, he showed a great deal of patience, heart, and a willingness to listen to his elders and that’s truly all they could ask for. 

“Do you want to hang around for a little while or head out and do something?” Styrk asked, knowing that Ben might not want to spend his time talking with ‘old people’ but at the same time he was still a bit in awe of the idea of gods so that might make up for it a bit. 

Ben thought about it for a minute before his stomach growled and made the decision for him. “He didn’t eat much at lunch,” Cas explained amusedly, knowing that he had just been too nervous. 

Styrk shook his head and ruffled Ben’s hair with a grin. “Well what do you say we go ahead and find you a snack and then we can go outside until dinnertime.”

Before they got far, Bobby came in to see them. Since the session was over, he was allowed, and since they were just standing around talking he didn’t have to kneel, and was able to just get away with a bow. He had been there often enough over that last few years that he knew all the procedures. “Hey, Bobby. You here for a reason or just to hang out?” Hjert asked. 

“Just wanted to come meet the kid and see how everyone is settling in,” he said. 

“Right, well we were just about to head to the kitchens for a snack. Come on,” Styrk said cheerfully before introducing Ben. “Ben, this is your Uncle Bobby. Bobby, this is my son Ben.”

“Nice to meet you,” Bobby said reaching out a hand for Ben to shake. “So what do you think of all this hoopla here,” he asked genially. 

“It’s so cool! Mostly. When they aren’t in really boring meetings anyway.” Bobby just laughed and ruffled his hair as they walked out of the room. None of them noticing that one of the council members, Freyja, had just been standing there, staring dumbfounded since he had walked in. 

As they left, Freyja shook herself out of it and turned to one of the older council members next to her. “Do you know who that was?” 

“That was a human hunter. Bobby Singer. He was a sort of surrogate father to the younger two kings in their human life. He was also a good friend to King Odin. You’ll get used to seeing him,” he told her. 

“A human hunter?” she asked her lip curling in distaste. 

“Correct. He’s not like most hunters though. He’s quite open-minded when it comes to our people. I have not had much occasion to speak with him, but when I have he strikes me as quite intelligent. There is nothing to fear from him,” Njord assured her. 

“I do not fear him,” she said testily. She feared no one, human or god and she resented the implication that she would. She did need to decide what she was going to do about this new revelation. Since he was a human he wouldn’t be able to see what she did when he looked at her, so she was free to muse on it as long as she liked. Well, perhaps not forever. He did look relatively old for a human and to her knowledge his job was quite dangerous. Perhaps she should stake her claim sooner rather than later. No. She still needed to think on the matter first. She nodded to Njord absentmindedly as she took her leave.


	4. Chapter 4

When they told Bobby that they were planning to take Ben to the fairgrounds the next day, he decided to stick around until then. He still remembered his one and only time being there, and couldn’t help but want to see it again, and more importantly, see it with Ben. He knew that he didn’t live here like the others did, but he still wanted to be a part of the boy’s life too. Especially since Styrk had already dubbed him, Uncle Bobby, and the first trip to the fairgrounds was a rather big milestone and at his age, there weren’t too many of those left, so for the first time, he would be staying overnight in the castle. Thor gladly gave up his room for Bobby’s use. With Michael gone, he had no need of it at the moment anyway. 

After the humans had gone to bed, Loki and Hjert disappeared into their own room and after a good few hours of enjoying each other, as they were lying in bed catching their breath, Loki decided to bring up something he’d been thinking about the last few days. “What do you think about having a baby?” he asked Hjert nervously. He wanted it badly, but Hjert was so young. Gods didn’t usually have children until they were at least a few hundred years old. Then again, Hjert was recently human and in human years, he was about the right age to start thinking about it, so maybe he would go for it. 

“What? You mean…you want…is that even possible?” he asked. He knew that as an archangel, Loki could change his form whenever he wished so he would easily be able to become a woman to carry a child, but it wasn’t something that gods were able to do, so it would raise far too many questions. 

“You may have noticed that we are far from the only same sex couples around. There are many goddesses who enjoy pregnancy and childbirth and are always willing to carry a baby for those who need it. We are also completely capable of impregnating them with both of our DNA, without even having to touch them of course,” Loki explained. 

“So, we would have some random woman carrying our baby?” Hjert asked carefully, not sure how much he liked that idea. 

“It wouldn’t have to be a random woman. There are lists of women who are willing. We could choose one and get to know her and become friends before we ever take that step. It’s completely up to you…if this is something you want that is.”

“Well…yeah…I kinda do want it. I would have said no right off if I didn’t. I just…need a little time to consider the whole process part.”

Loki grinned happily. At least he was open to the idea. That was the hard part done. “How about we take a look at the list, see if there’s anyone we already know, and get a better idea of where to go from here?” 

“You think there could be someone we already know on the list?” Hjert asked. That would make things easier. 

“Well I know that there are at least a few of the females on the staff who have carried more than one child despite not having a mate, including Mattie and Prita, so there is a good chance,” Loki told him. Mattie and Prita were the two they were closest with though they had good relationships with all of the staff, but he expected Hjert to choose one of those two if they went through with it, assuming of course they were still currently ready to do so. 

“Well, what kind of rights would they have to the child?” Hjert asked, needing as much information as he could get and this was one of the few areas that he had not paid much attention to in his studies. 

“Technically, none. That would be completely up to us. Traditionally, they would be considered an aunt to the child, and of course, would be the wet nurse until he or she was weaned. They would also be first choice for a nanny if one were needed, but none of that would be required,” Loki explained. 

Hjert considered it for a few minutes. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s go look at the list. I don’t want to set anything in stone until Ben makes his decision though. I don’t want to mess up his chances if the council knows that there is another heir on the way.”

“I doubt it would. They’ve already made their decision and they aren’t likely to change it, but I agree there is a chance, however slim, so that’s a good plan. Thankfully, we can look at the list in secret, so they don’t have to know we’re considering it,” Loki said hopping out of bed and dressing them both with a snap of his fingers. “Come on,” he said excitedly. 

“What? Now?” Hjert asked taken by surprise. 

“No time like the present,” Loki said with a grin. Hjert just shrugged and got up and followed Loki to the study. As kings, they had a filing cabinet that could duplicate any public records in the entire kingdom so they grabbed the list and took it back to their room to study. Sure enough, both Mattie and Prita were on the list, along with four other members of the staff. 

Hjert considered everything for a while before he said, “I think Prita would be the best option. We would need a nanny for the court days and Mattie has her own duties, especially on those days. It would be far easier to find a replacement maid than it would be to replace Mattie. Even temporarily.”

“That’s a good point, and I know that Mattie has always been right back to work after the child was born, whether no one asked her to serve as a nanny or whether she didn’t want to, I don’t know, but you’re right that we need her more in her current position. So, we’re really gonna do this then?” 

“Yeah. We’ll do this. We’ll talk to Prita once everything is settled with Ben,” Hjert said with a grin and Loki all but tackled him back on the bed, leaving the paper on the nightstand as they got lost in each other again until sunup. 

The next morning, Ben could barely contain his excitement long enough to eat breakfast, and they were all greatly amused watching him bounce in his seat. Since all of them going together tended to draw a great deal of attention, it would just be Styrk, Cas, Bobby, and Ben going together. Thor, Loki, and Hjert would hang back this time. They could all go together another day. It would be far easier for Ben to make friends if people weren’t intimidated by all of them at the same time. 

When they arrived at the entrance Ben’s jaw dropped and he just looked around in awe. This was better than anything he could have imagined. There was so much to look at and he was trying to look at it all at once. The three adults with him gave each other knowing smiles and waited for him to collect himself. Before he got a chance though, a familiar face came bounding over to them. “Hi King Styrk, King Cas, Mr. Bobby. Who’s this?” she asked curiously looking at Ben. 

Styrk chuckled. “Hello Gyda. This is my son Ben.”

“He’s human,” she pointed out confusedly. 

“How can you tell? I don’t look any different do I?” Ben asked just as confused. He’d even made sure to dress correctly. 

“Not on the outside, silly,” she giggled. 

“Well you know I used to be human,” Styrk interrupted and Gyda nodded. “He’s my son from when I was human. He’s living here with me now.”

“That’s great!” she said cheerfully. “Come on. My mom runs one of the games here and you don’t need powers for it. I can show you all the best stuff to do since I’m here like every day,” she chattered to Ben. 

“Can I Dad?” Ben asked hopefully. 

Styrk didn’t like the idea of Ben going off without an adult. Not as a human and on his first time here, but he didn’t have the heart to completely say no. “How about you show us all around Gyda? We don’t know much about the kids games either,” he suggested. 

“Okay!” she quickly agreed and took Ben’s hand pulling him along behind her. Their first stop of course was her mother’s booth where she quickly introduced Ben. Runa bowed before the kings before addressing Ben and easily pulled him in for the next game which involved dodging blasts of colored paint that she shot at them all. Whoever had the least amount of paint on them won a prize. Ben immediately likened it to dodgeball. 

The next stop was to watch one of the street performers who did amazing things with fire. Styrk had spent longer than he’d like to admit trying to copy some of the more impressive feats, but hadn’t had much luck so far. When Thor caught him once, he had laughed at him and explained that Tynar had been at it for thousands of years and half the stuff he managed was difficult even for him. Only the fact that he had seen it a hundred times and knew that he wouldn’t be hurt kept him from freaking out when the giant fire dragon ‘swallowed’ Ben. Bobby hadn’t actually seen it before and started to step in as soon as it went for Ben, but Styrk grabbed his arm and shook his head. “It’s okay. Just watch,” he said calmly as the dragon dissipated and Ben was standing there with a look of awe and excitement. Gyda promised that they would come back to him later when he let the kids ‘fight’ the fire dragons with their own fire-swords that they got to keep after. The fire-swords were made of plastic and the blades were enchanted with flames that held no heat. Another feat which Styrk had tried to match. He still couldn’t manage to pull the heat from his fire. 

Styrk had known that getting a real lunch into Ben today would be nearly impossible so he didn’t even try as they spent the day munching on the wares from the different booths on offer. There was a bit of a dustup when they stopped for drinks and Gyda ordered a kid’s meade, but Styrk wouldn’t let Ben have one. Even the kid’s meade was too strong for a human child. Relatively speaking the alcohol content was almost negligible for a god child, but it technically contained about as much alcohol as vodka so was too strong for a human child. He ordered Ben a Joramberry juice instead. He got a glare in response, right up until Ben actually tasted the juice, which apparently was good enough that he forgave his father for the slight. That was also when Bobby found out that the ale he’d had last time he was here was actually a kids drink, and shot his own half-hearted glare at Styrk. 

By the time they headed back to the castle at dinnertime, Ben nearly fell asleep on his plate, and they put him to bed before converging back in the common room to tell the others about Ben’s day and his new best friend.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Styrk decided to sit Ben down and have a real discussion about the possibility of him becoming a pagan. As soon as Styrk brought up what he wanted to talk to Ben about, he was interrupted with an exclamation of, “Yes. I want to do it!”

Styrk sighed. He had expected that. “This isn’t a decision you should make lightly Ben. There is a lot to consider.”

“You don’t want me to be like you?” Ben asked, hurt. 

“No, that’s not it. I want you to make the decision that best for you, but I don’t want you to regret it later. This is a permanent thing and you need to make sure that you have all the information before you decide,” Styrk assured him. “I would love if you became like me, but I would also love you just the same if you wanted to stay human.”

“Why would I want to stay human?” 

“Well first of all, if you became a pagan, you wouldn’t be able to interact with humans anymore. Not normally anyway. Once you get older and have full control over your powers you could, but you could never tell them what you are, where you live, what you do, or anything else that might seem strange to them. It really wouldn’t be worth it.”

“But Uncle Bobby…”

“Is the exception,” Styrk said. “He’s the only human that interacts with us on a regular basis, though there are two others that know about us and we are friendly with. Other humans are off limits.” Once he could see that Ben understood that, he brought up another point for him to consider. “Another thing you should know is that power can be scarce sometimes. You wouldn’t always be able to do everything you could and that can get frustrating sometimes. There are just too many of us and too little power to go around. When you get low, you may even still need to eat and sleep just like a human.”

“Is that why you guys always eat so much?” Ben asked. 

“Yeah. It’s the easiest way to keep our power levels steady. It’s very uncomfortable, and even painful sometimes to let yourself run too low.” Ben nodded as he thought about it. “Another thing you should be aware of, is that once the ceremony is complete, you will no longer be human at all. That means that genetically you wouldn’t be related to your mother anymore.”

“She wouldn’t be my mom anymore?” Ben asked looking up with sorrow in his eyes. 

“No, that’s not really what I mean. She gave birth to you, she raised you, she loved you. She will always be your mother, but you just wouldn’t carry her dna anymore. She would still always live on in your heart, even longer since you would be immortal, just not in your genes,” he said quickly, realizing that he had said that badly. 

“So, does that mean that once you became a god you weren’t my father anymore?” he asked suddenly feeling more than a little insecure. 

“Genetically speaking, no, but that doesn’t matter to me. To any of us here. As far as I’m concerned you will always be my son, human or not.” Styrk considered whether he wanted to say the next part, but decided that it would likely banish the last of Ben’s insecurity. “It’s true that I could have walked away when they called me and told me I was your father. No DNA test would be able to prove it, but I would never give you up now that I know I have you. And that goes for even if you decide to be a little brat and drive me crazy too,” he teased pulling Ben in for a one-armed hug. “You got it?” 

Ben grinned happily. “Yeah, Dad. I got it.”

“Good. One last thing to consider, If, you choose to be a pagan, you will be a prince. That will be a lot of pressure. More than you are used to. I would suggest you talk more with Uncle Thor about what it’s like to grow up as a prince since the rest of us were adopted when we were already grown. And I want you to start studying those books I put in your room in the mornings. They will tell you all you need to know in more detail. Your uncles, papa, and I will make time after dinner every night to all hang out with you and we’ll answer any questions you may have then. Sound good?” 

Ben nodded, but just had one more question right now. “So, if I decide to stay human I can still stay here even though I’ll be the only one?” 

“If you want to, yes. Or if you’d be more comfortable going back to the human world to live, Cas and I will give up our thrones temporarily to go back with you and just take them back later on, once you’re grown. Either way, you’ll always be welcome here and if you want to go that route we’ll give you a pendant like Bobby has that will bring you back and forth to visit.”

“You would give up being kings for me?” he asked shocked. 

“If we were the only kings that wouldn’t be an option, but since we’re not, we can, and you’re more important to all of us. I’ve already discussed the possibility with your uncles and with Cas, and they will all support us if that’s what we decide,” Styrk told him. 

Ben jumped into his father’s arms and hugged him tightly. To know that both his dads would give up so much just to make him happy was a heady thing for him. He was also determined not to make them have to. No matter what he decided he would live here with them. His time at the fairgrounds had proved that though he may be different, he could still be happy. Beyond the occasional curious comment about his humanity, none of the other kids had cared and even the adults didn’t look at him much differently than they did the other kids. There would always be things he couldn’t do, but there were kids like that in the human world too. It may even help him understand people with disabilities better when and if he went back to the human world. “How long do I have to decide? He asked. 

“You can take as much time as you want. Just know that if you decide to become one of us after you turn sixteen you would have to go through and pass the trials,” Styrk told him. 

“What are the trials?” Ben asked. 

“I can’t tell you any more than that. I’m sorry kiddo. It’s one of our highest laws. You have to come in unprepared for them,” he said apologetically. Ben could tell by the look on his father’s face and the fact that kids apparently couldn’t do them, that they wouldn’t be pleasant so would definitely make a decision before he was sixteen. Not that he ever planned on taking that long to begin with. He had every intention of deciding soon. “Any more questions for now?” 

“No. Not yet.”

“Okay, good. Go ahead and start studying until lunchtime then,” Styrk told him with a playful swat to his butt as he left the room. 

Bobby had always visited sporadically before, but now came by at least once or twice a week. One of those days was usually a court day so that he could hang out with Ben while Cas attended and then hang out with the grownups once they were done. He had finally managed to notice the looks from one of the goddesses on the council on the occasions where they ran across each other in the halls, but didn’t think much of it. He was used to getting odd looks here.

Over the next few weeks, Ben worked his way through the books, asked a lot of questions of his dads and uncles, had a long conversation with Uncle Thor about what it’s like growing up as a prince, and even had quite a few conversations with Bobby about the pagans from a human point of view. All the human points of view really, from his own, to the variety of opinions from hunters, and the views of normal humans who mostly thought it was all myths and legends. 

As Ben’s questions started to take shape and run along a certain track they were all fairly sure what he would choose, and they were also comforted that he would be making an informed choice and taking everything into consideration. It was nearly a month after he arrived when they all sat down after dinner for their nightly family time, that Ben said, very seriously, “I’ve made a decision.” When he saw that he had all of their attention he took a deep breath and said, “I want to become a pagan.”

“You’re sure?” Styrk asked hopefully. 

“Totally,” Ben said with a smile and was treated with a round of hugs.


	6. Chapter 6

Loki suddenly got an evil grin on his face as he turned to Styrk. “You realize this means there will be a ball, right?” The look of pure horror on Styrk’s face was enough to send them all into hysterical laughter, even Ben. Cas, even through his laughter, patted Styrk’s shoulder in a half-hearted attempt at comfort. 

Once they all managed to get control of themselves and Styrk stopped grumbling about stupid balls and inconsiderate brothers and ungrateful sons, they turned to planning. “Okay so tomorrow at the end of the session we’ll ask for new business and you can present your petition,” Thor suggested. 

“Why the end?” Ben asked. He wasn’t really keen on being nervous all day long. 

“Because once your petition is approved it will be easier to move directly into the ceremony which can only be done once the council is dismissed,” Hjert explained. 

“Okay so the ball will be after the ceremony?” Ben asked, giggling at his father’s nervous tick at the mention of the ball. 

“Nope. You’ll be out cold after the ceremony. The ball will be the next evening after your formal introduction to the kingdom,” Loki said with a grin. 

“Formal introduction?” Ben asked nervously. 

“Yep,” Loki said cheerfully. “All you have to do is stand there, but it does get a little nerve-wracking standing in front of all those people for the first time.” He winked at Ben as he added, “So just make sure you don’t pick your nose or anything.”

“Eeew,” Ben said giggling as his nerves evaporated, which had been Loki’s intention. 

“Don’t worry, kiddo. We’ve all been through it and I was younger than you,” Thor told him. Princes were usually introduced on their tenth birthdays. 

“Will I have to dance at the ball?” he asked. He had been taking dancing lessons a few afternoons a week, but he still wasn’t very fond of it, for all that he had a natural talent. 

“Yep,” Loki told him. “I know you’re a little young for a girlfriend still, but usually the young princes choose a friend to dance with. Even the grown princes sometimes. At the last ball, Thor danced with your friend Gyda,” he told him. 

“You did?!” Ben asked wide-eyed. 

“I did. I didn’t want to give any grown-ups any ideas that they could be my girlfriend so Gyda was kind enough to dance with me. I suppose I’ll let you dance with her this time though if you want,” Thor said mock-grudgingly. 

Gyda had been to the castle a few times since they had met at the fairgrounds, along with some of the other kids he’d met, but Gyda was his best friend, despite the fact that she was a girl and almost two years younger than him. “As long as she knows it doesn’t mean she’s my girlfriend,” Ben agreed. 

Once everything was settled and planned it was Ben’s bedtime, so they shuffled him off to bed and Thor headed downstairs to catch Mattie before she left for the day. He had her send a message to Michael to come see him when he could spare a few minutes and then headed off to the library to kill time while he waited. It was nearly an hour later and he was just putting a book back and grabbing another when he was spun around and pressed up against the shelf being kissed senseless. He grinned into the kiss and pulled Michael tightly against him as he opened for the probing tongue. When they broke for air, Michael whispered, “I’ve missed you.” 

“Me too,” Thor told him. “Been busy?” 

“You have no idea,” Michael said wearily. “Undoing millenia of damage is far easier said than done. When I got your message, I was in a conference, but I wrapped it up as quick as I could and locked my office down so no one else could come in and try to bother me for a little while.”

“How long do you have?” Thor asked. 

“Truthfully, I shouldn’t be here now, but I can make time for a few hours at least,” Michael told him. 

Thor decided to get to the reason for his message. If he would have to choose he would take the few hours later. “I wanted to let you know that Ben decided to become a pagan so there will be a ball the day after tomorrow…”

Michael grinned. “Are you asking me to be your date to the ball?” 

“If you can get away…yes.”

“I’ll find a way. I can’t promise how long I can stay, but I’ll find a way to at least be here for a while,” Michael promised. 

“Will that impede your ability to stay now?” he asked hoping that it wouldn’t. 

“Like I could tear myself away again so soon,” Michael said capturing his lover’s lips with his own again. They disappeared from the library in a gust of wind, reappearing in Thor’s room without breaking the kiss even as they tumbled into the bed. 

His brothers noticed that Thor seemed far more relaxed the next day than he had been the last few weeks, but they decided not to ask after Loki assured them they didn’t want to know. He had sensed Michael’s grace in the castle last night and had a pretty good idea why Thor was in such a great mood. 

Ben made it through the formal request without stumbling, but then he had spent half the day practicing and was able to sit back and relax as the council filed out and the ceremony was prepared. He wasn’t nearly as nervous about the ceremony as he had been about standing before the council, though he was still a little jittery. 

Styrk was just as jittery though. He had learned the ceremony of course. Thor and Loki had to teach him since Odin had never gotten around to it, thinking he had more time. Any of them could have done it, but Styrk was his human father and had every intention of being his pagan father as well. He had agonized for days over what name to give his son as well but finally came to a decision. When the ceremony was ready, he motioned Ben to come with him and they entered the room that Styrk hadn’t entered in years. 

He motioned Ben to stand in the open space in the large center rune as the torches on the walls sparked and threw off a dim light. Now Ben was really getting nervous. This was a very eerie place for a kid. Styrk stepped up to the dais and raised the same large chalice that Odin had used as he began the long chant that he had practiced for hours. Ben jumped noticeably when the lightning started flashing across the surrounding runes, but managed to stay in his assigned spot. He cringed when the lightning jumped to the rune he was standing in before relaxing just a fraction as he was unharmed. It wasn’t long after that before Styrk stopped chanting and pulled the dagger across his arm dripping his blood into the chalice. He stepped down and stood in front of the open space at the bottom of the rune and said, “Benjamin, your greatest strength is your steadfastness. You shall henceforth be known as Bryndr. Do you accept your name and your place in my house?”

“I do,” Ben said in a shaky voice. 

“Then drink, Bryndr, and take your place as my son,” he said handing over the chalice. Ben grimaced at the taste as he drank before handing the chalice back to his father who went back to the dais and raised it in the air again and began another, much shorter chant, and there was a blinding flash of light that left Ben lying unconscious in the center rune. Rather than just send him to his bed like Odin had done, Styrk went over and picked up his son and carried him out of the ritual room and put him in his bed before joining Cas and his brothers in the common room and sinking into the chair with relief that it was over. 

“So, what’s his name?” Loki asked unable to contain his curiosity. 

“Bryndr,” Styrk told him. 

“A very fitting name,” Thor said with an approving nod. 

“And we can still call him Ben,” Hjert agreed. 

“I took the liberty of having a message sent to Bobby inviting him to the introduction and ball tomorrow,” Cas told Styrk who snorted in amusement. 

“Did he reply?” 

“He did. He said, and I quote, ‘So you idjits finally found a way to get me to one of those fancy parties. I’m only coming for the kid.’”

Styrk let out a barking laugh as Hjert said, “Yep. That’s Bobby for you.”

“I arranged for our armor to be sent up in the morning, including a set for Ben,” Thor told them.


	7. Chapter 7

Ben woke just after noon the next day, as expected, and let his father help him into his new white armor. They met up with the others in the common room and looked around with wide eyes at the sight they made. Thor in his red armor, Loki in gold, Styrk in green, Hjert in brown, and Cas in royal blue. They walked down to the anteroom off the balcony, and sat down to wait. They still had half an hour to kill as the people assembled outside. Bobby had greeted them as he arrived a few hours ago, before Ben woke up, but they had to start getting ready, so he went with Mattie to get ready himself. He would be standing with the council and staff in the courtyard, separate from the public. 

Down in the courtyard, Freyja noticed that Bobby had come and she saw her chance, suddenly glad that she hadn’t arranged for an escort to the ball. She moved over next to him and introduced herself. “Hello, Bobby Singer. I am Freyja.”

“Hi,” Bobby said at a loss for words. It wasn’t often a beautiful goddess came up to talk to him out of the blue. “I thought you would be taller,” he finally managed to say. She was about four inches shorter than him, with a slim athletic figure, long straight black hair and sapphire blue eyes. 

Freyja laughed lightly. “Yes. I have noticed that when a man is so completely thrashed in battle by a woman, he has a tendency to exaggerate her size to compensate,” she said mischievously. 

“So…you’re a warrior then?” Bobby tried to make conversation. 

“I am Emira of the Valkyrie,” she told him. 

“Emira?” 

“It means I am the leader of the Valkyrie. We are an elite unit of warriors, all female,” she said proudly. 

“That’s interesting,” he said honestly. 

She could see his honest interest and the fact that he had not shied away from or dismissed the idea of a female warrior and smiled warmly at him. Perhaps this could work out after all. “Would you escort me to the ball?”

“You…uh…you want me to…um…okay?” Bobby said more than a little flustered. 

“Excellent! I will meet you in the entrance hall one hour after the announcement has finished,” she told him happily, turning towards the balcony as the kings were now coming out. Bobby was so dazed he barely even noticed. 

 

They stepped out on the balcony in their usual order, Thor on the left, then Loki, Hjert, Styrk, and Cas, except this time Ben was between Styrk and Cas and they each had a hand on one of his shoulders. Styrk did the talking as he introduced Ben with his new name and station as the crown prince and invited everyone to the ball to celebrate that would commence in two hours. 

“That was it?” Ben asked, surprised at how short it was. 

“That was it,” Thor said. “It’s mostly just so they can get a look at you and know who you are,” he explained as they headed back to their suite. 

No sooner than they sat down, awaiting the start of the ball, Bobby burst in. “I need some help.”

“Whatever you need, Bobby,” Hjert told him waving him to sit down since he looked like he was about to fall out. 

“What do I wear to this thing?” he asked breathlessly. 

“I thought you were going to wear that?” Styrk asked, gesturing to the suit he had on. There wasn’t exactly a dress code after all, even if it was a rather different style than anyone was used to. 

“Well…I was…but then…well…I kinda…Aw, hell. I got a date,” he finished quickly after a rough start. 

Thor turned away, shoulders shaking as he tried to hold in his laughter, and Styrk wasn’t much better off. Loki had a great deal of practice holding such things in and only betrayed his amusement by the gleam in his eyes while Hjert was trying to be sympathetic. Loki was the only one able to find words though. “Well in that case your dress would depend on the station of your date. Who are you escorting?” 

“Freyja,” Bobby said and Loki choked on the laugh that nearly escaped while Thor and Styrk lost their own battles. Even Hjert’s lips were twitching against their will and Cas just looked dumbfounded at the idea. 

“Freyja?! The Emira Valkyr herself?! You really know how to pick ‘em,” he said shaking his head. “She’s a firecracker, for sure. Last god she dated we found in eighteen pieces, and we were still missing a few.” When he saw Bobby’s eyes widen in fear, he added, “Of course he was stupid enough to cheat on her, so he should have expected it.” 

“Right. Yeah. So…um…clothes?” he asked hoping to change the subject. 

Loki snapped his fingers and Bobby was decked out in black trousers, a red tunic, and a long black over-robe with red detailing. “How’s that?” 

“Is the robe really necessary?” Bobby asked distastefully. 

“Yes. Unless you want to show up to a formal event in street clothes,” Loki told him. “The black and red are the colors of the Valkyrie unit. Black for their armor and the red of the blood of their enemies.”

“They’re really that good?” Bobby asked curiously noting the respect he spoke of the Valkyrie with. 

“Any ten Valkyrie could decimate any fifty of our normal soldiers,” Thor explained, having gotten himself back under control. “Without taking a single injury.” 

Bobby had nothing to say to that as he just sat down heavily on one of the free chairs. Now that the crisis was averted, he turned to Ben and said, “You looked good up there, kid. I couldn’t even tell you were nervous.”

“Then how did you know I was?” Ben asked. 

“Because anyone would be,” Bobby replied knowing that he was trying to catch him in a lie. 

“He’s right. Hell, I’ve been doing it for millenia and I still get nervous,” Thor told him. A few minutes later, Bobby headed down to meet Freyja as requested in the entrance hall. 

Soon after, there was a knock on the door and Hjert answered it and found one of the guards bringing Gyda up since Ben was going to be escorting her to the ball. They ushered her in, and she plopped down on the couch next to Ben, wearing a pretty yellow dress. Styrk suddenly realized that they were short a person. “Are you going alone?” he asked Thor. 

“No. Michael is coming,” he told his brother. 

“Cutting it a little close, isn’t he?” Loki asked, really hoping that Thor wasn’t going to be stood up. 

“He’ll be here as soon as he can,” Thor said with more confidence than he felt, and by the time they had to make their entrance, he still hadn’t arrived. Thor didn’t allow his disappointment to show though as he made a quick speech and started the meal, though he did begin scanning the guests to see who he would ask to dance the opening dance with. 

The chair next to him sat glaringly empty, as a sign to all that he had been stood up, but he forced himself into a mask of calm politeness and let no one see the turmoil beneath the surface, even his brothers. Loki though was making plans on how to disembowel Michael slowly if he didn’t have a damn good excuse and maybe even if he did. He understood not being able to get away. He did have a lot of responsibilities resting on his shoulders right now, but if that was the case he should have said so, rather than get Thor’s hopes up and then just not show up.


	8. Chapter 8

It was about halfway through the meal before someone slid into the seat next to Thor and he turned to see Michael there with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m so sorry I’m late. We had a minor emergency I had to handle.”

“Is everything well now?” Thor asked, relieved that he had made it. 

“Well enough,” Michael lied. He knew that if he told Thor that things were barely holding together at the moment he would feel obligated to send him back to handle it, regardless of his own happiness, and he had every intention of being here for Thor for as long as he could manage. He mouthed a sorry to Loki after noticing his glare. The glare didn’t diminish at all and he knew that he was in for an interrogation as soon as Loki could get him alone, and had no intention of lying to his brother. He knew that Loki wouldn’t want to ruin Thor’s night either. 

Thor didn’t hold it against Michael that he was late though. If he hadn’t shown up at all without sending word then they would have issues, but since he did come, it was obvious that he was always intending to and would have been on time if whatever emergency there was hadn’t come up. He wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it and intended to just enjoy the night. Their first time in public as a couple. When the first dance was announced, he got up and held a hand out to Michael who took it with a loving smile as they walked down to the dance floor. 

Michael’s ice blue dress armor contrasted nicely with Thor’s deep red, as Thor led him around the dance floor. Loki and Hjert, Styrk and Cas, and Ben and Gyda, joining them. The next song, the council joined them on the floor, including Bobby and Freyja and Bobby got a thumbs up from Styrk as they waltzed around. Bobby wasn’t the most graceful dancer in the world, but he was managing and didn’t end up stepping on her toes so he chalked it up as a win. 

Once the dance floor opened for everyone, Loki took his chance to corner Michael. “Sorry, Thor. I need to borrow Michael for a minute,” he said pulling him off into a corner. Once he was sure they wouldn’t be overheard, he said heatedly, “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea what you put Thor through tonight when he thought you weren’t coming?”

“I’m sorry. I got away as soon as he could. I had a bit of a crisis to deal with,” Michael tried to placate him. 

“You should be sorry. It better have been a damn good crisis,” Loki spat. 

“Oh, I don’t know. How’s civil war for a crisis,” Michael snapped. 

“Wait…what?” Loki asked dumbfounded, his anger cut off at the pass. 

“I had to break up a pitched battle between over a hundred seraphs. Three dead and over a dozen wounded before I managed. I ordered everyone home, healed the wounded and then had to put all of heaven in a full lockdown just to get here at all,” Michael told him. 

“Does Thor know?” Loki asked looking concernedly around for his brother. 

“No, he doesn’t. And he’s not going to tonight,” Michael said firmly. Loki nodded. He agreed with Michael on that one. He knew that Thor had a tendency to put duty ahead of happiness and he deserved to have this night. 

“Okay. Good. Go give him a night to remember then,” Loki said waving Michael off and heading back to Hjert. 

“Everything okay?” Hjert asked worriedly. 

“We’re good. I’ll tell you all about it later,” he promised spinning his husband back to the dance floor where Michael and Thor had rejoined them as well. Styrk and Cas had opted out after the two required dances, as had Ben and Gyda and the four of them were just walking around mingling. Ben and Gyda mostly chatting with the kids, though they did end up chatting with adults a few times over the course of the evening. 

It was during one of these times that Freyja and Bobby approached Styrk. Freyja bowed to him, with a quiet, “My lord.”

“Freyja. Bobby. Are you having a good time?” he asked politely. 

“We are. Thank you,” Freyja said and Bobby just nodded. He had learned over the course of the evening that Freyja wasn’t any more fond of these events than he was so they had bonded over that and as much as he hated the event, he was having a good time with her. “Your son is acquitting himself well,” she observed as Ben chatted politely with Forsetti and his date, Vor. 

“He is. I wish I could take more credit, but his mother raised him,” Styrk said with a proud smile towards him. 

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Bobby admonished him. “He idolizes you and doesn’t want to disappoint you. His mother may have given him the tools, but you give him the motivation.”

Styrk nodded gratefully to him. “Thanks, Bobby.”

 

Thor and Michael barely left the dance floor for the next few hours, but as things started to wind down, Michael brushed a lock of hair behind Thor’s ear, kissed him softly and said sadly, “I really should be getting back.”

“I know,” Thor said just as sadly. “I love you.”

“And I love you. Always,” he said pressing another gentle kiss to Thor’s lips before flying away. 

Once he was gone, Thor went to corner Loki. He hadn’t wanted to ask Michael about what had happened and bring down the mood, but he was sure that was what Loki’s confrontation with him was about. “Okay, so now that he left, can you tell me what happened?”

“You sure you want to know now?” Loki asked glancing around at the still half full ballroom. 

Well now he had to know or his imagination was going to run wild with all sorts of worst case scenarios. It must be bad if Loki was hesitant to tell him while they still had guests. “Yeah. I do.”

“Apparently, heaven is on the brink of civil war and he’s barely holding it together. This afternoon he had to break up a pitched battle, there were a few deaths and a lot of injuries. Once he had everyone healed, he put heaven into full lockdown mode so he could make it here.”

Thor’s eyes went wide at the beginning of that explanation. “He shouldn’t have come. I would have understood once he explained it.” 

“And that’s exactly why he didn’t tell you what happened sooner. He wanted you to have this night, no matter what,” Loki told him with a smile. “He would do anything for you, you know.”

“I know,” Thor said with a besotted grin. “So would I.”

“Good. Then you two will be just fine,” he said with a pat to his brother’s shoulder. Styrk and Cas had left already to go put Ben to bed and Gyda’s mother had taken her home as well. Child gods still needed to sleep after all to help their powers grow. But that meant the rest of them had to stick around. They couldn’t all leave until all of the guests did, and Styrk and Cas only got a bye because of Ben. 

 

Bobby and Freyja left not long after Michael did, and Bobby walked her back to the entrance hall. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Goodnight, Bobby. I had an enjoyable evening.”

“So did I,” Bobby told her. “Good night.”

He headed back up to the boys’ suite. He figured it would be easier to stay the night since it was so late already, and he really needed some advice about this whole goddess thing anyway. He was bad enough with human women and he didn’t much want to end up in eighteen or more pieces.


	9. Chapter 9

Styrk and Cas were sitting in the common room, having already stripped out of their armor, when Bobby came in. Styrk gave a mischievous grin. “Hey Bobby. Have a good time?” 

“Yeah. I guess,” Bobby grumbled. He did want advice, but not necessarily from Mr. ladies man. Cas was just about as clueless about relationships as he was so he wouldn’t be any help either. 

“Well? Come on. Give me some details here man,” Styrk said like a kid on Christmas morning. “Just…not TOO much detail,” he suddenly amended. 

Bobby smacked him upside the head. “Nothing like that you idjit.” When Dean kept looking at him expectantly, he sighed. “She just kissed me on the cheek, told me she had a good time, and left. Damned if I know what that means.”

Styrk laughed. “Did you ask her to the ball or did she ask you?” he asked wanting to get the full picture. 

“She did,” Bobby said as though it should be obvious. 

“Ok, so it meant that you were gentlemanly enough to escort her and she was grateful. Her kissing you on the cheek was her saying that she would like to see you again, but you will have to ask because she’s not going to force the matter,” Styrk explained. He may have gone through a lot of women in the past, but he knew their language and he had learned that in that regard, goddesses weren’t so different. “So, what do you think? You gonna ask her out?” 

“Doubt it. I ain’t got a clue what the hell to do with a woman like that, and I don’t fancy getting on her bad side when I screw up,” Bobby said bluntly. 

Styrk sighed. He had been trying to avoid going there, not wanting to put too much pressure on Bobby, but it seemed like if he didn’t the stubborn man was going to walk away. “And you call me an idjit. Do you really think that Freyja…the Emira Valkyr…really goes around dating any random human that crosses her path?” 

Bobby turned to him and narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying boy?” 

“I’m saying that there’s only one thing that could make a goddess like that chase an old crusty human like you,” he teased and seeing that Bobby still didn’t get he rolled his eyes. “Soulmates, Bobby,” he said bluntly. 

Bobby just stood there blinking in shock for a moment. “Aw Hell. Screw this. I’m going to bed,” he said as he left the room and headed for the suite next door that had been set aside for him when he started coming around more often. Styrk managed to last until he made it out of the room before he started to laugh. 

“Are you sure it was wise to tell him that?” Cas asked concernedly. 

“Sure. He’ll come around. He just needs some time to process. Besides, she knows, so it’s only fair that he does too.”

Styrk and Cas moved to their bedroom after that and had quite a bit of fun before Cas fell asleep, and Styrk headed back to the common room. He had been excused from the ball to care for his child, so if he were seen wandering the castle he would get dragged back and no way was he gonna let that happen. 

It wasn’t too much longer before Thor showed up and plopped down next to him. “Loki and Hjert promised to keep visible for the rest of the ball so I could leave.”

“Michael already bailed then?” Styrk asked disapprovingly. 

“Yeah. He had to. He shouldn’t have come in the first place,” Thor told him and then explained what had happened to delay him and even Styrk couldn’t hold that against him. He wanted desperately to change the subject now though. “So have you figured out where to go from here with Ben? I mean, will you enroll him in school, get him tutors, or a combination of both?”

“I have an interview in the morning with a potential tutor. I figure we’ll get him caught up to the other kids before enrolling him in school. As much as I want him to mix with other kids his age, he’ll just be too far behind,” Styrk told him. 

“Who were you thinking for a tutor?” Thor asked curiously, having a few ideas himself if Styrk’s didn’t pan out. 

“Cas suggested Vor, actually. We spoke to her briefly earlier and it seemed like a good idea. She’s supposed to come by after breakfast to discuss it more in depth.”

“Excellent. She would be my first choice, too. She was actually my tutor as a child.”

“Really? Well that’s a good enough recommendation for me,” Styrk said. They passed the remainder of the night chatting before Cas and Ben woke up and they headed down to meet the others for breakfast. It was very bad manners to keep the ball going after sunup, so they knew that all of the guests would have left by now. They did decide not to wake Bobby up though. He probably wouldn’t be up for a few hours yet and none of them wanted to deal with him cranky. 

As they were eating, Ben asked, “Dad, can I go down to the village today?” He hoped that since he was one of them now, that his father would ease off the overprotective bit and let him go somewhere by himself. 

Styrk raised an eyebrow. He knew what Ben was thinking, but he did forget one major thing. “Two reasons why not. First, you’ve had your powers less than a day, and while it will take you years to learn how to use them, you at least have to be able to exercise control over them before we let you loose to play. Second, you need to remember you are a prince now. You don’t get to go anywhere alone. If one of us can’t go with you, some of the guards will.”

Ben groaned at that reminder and the realization that he would be the only kid followed around by guards. “It’s not so bad kiddo,” Thor said ruffling his hair. “I can tell you from experience that the guards won’t interfere with your fun. They will just be there watching for any threats. And the other kids would fully expect them to accompany you anyway, so no one will think anything of it.” He would wait until Ben was older to give him tips on how to get girls alone…or boys if he preferred. 

“How do I get control?” Ben asked. Now that his father mentioned it, he could feel himself out of control. Nothing had manifested yet thankfully, but he could feel it simmering under his skin, almost tingling, like it was trying to get out and he just knew that if it did, he would have no say over what it did, and he was suddenly a little nervous.

“I have a meeting with a tutor in about twenty minutes. If all goes well, we’ll see if she can start right away and work with you today on your control. If not, the rest of us will have to do our best,” Styrk told him. 

“Uncle Thor and Uncle Loki taught you and Uncle Hjert didn’t they?” Ben asked wondering why they couldn’t teach him too. 

“We did, but they came into their full powers all at once. They were a little more stable. Children are still growing and their powers tend to be a little more difficult to manage. If you need our help, we will be here and help you in any way we can, but we really aren’t the best ones to help you. There are people who are trained specifically to handle children’s power. Don’t worry too much though. If anything happens we can undo anything you manage do. I once exploded the entire family wing of the castle and your grandfather just laughed and fixed it,” Thor assured him. 

“But what if someone gets hurt?” he asked worriedly. 

“Your powers aren’t strong enough to hurt a god seriously,” Loki took over. “Worst anyone could get from you is minor to moderate injuries, and if that’s the case, I will gladly heal them and no one would ever hold it against you. Everyone has accidents.”

“How long will it take?” 

“Until you have enough control not to go blowing stuff up on a whim, probably a day or two. You’ll still have accidents from time to time of course, but that’s just part of growing up,” Loki assured him. 

Styrk and Cas headed out to meet with Vor in their public study, leaving Ben with his uncles as they headed back up to the suite to wait for word on how the meeting went while Ben did some more studying of his history book to keep his mind off his new awareness. It didn’t work so well though as it just kept getting worse. 

Hjert looked worriedly at him as he kept squirming around, which was rather unlike him. “You okay, Ben?” 

“It just itches,” he said miserably. 

Loki’s eyes widened and he turned to Hjert and Thor. “Go let Styrk know I got it covered,” he said as he grabbed Ben and flew away with him. 

“Where’d they go?” Hjert asked curiously as he followed Thor out on autopilot. 

“There is a reinforced room in the castle for this kind of situation,” Thor told him and just as he finished speaking, there was a loud booming sound and the whole castle shook. Thor shook his head and decided to just teleport to Styrk before he freaked out and Hjert followed him wanting to know himself what that was. They arrived just as Styrk was jumping to his feet about to disappear and Cas looked ready to run out the door. “It’s okay. Loki got him to the safe room,” Thor said to calm him down. “Pardon our interruption,” he inclined his head respectfully to Vor once the important part was said. 

“We should probably…” Styrk started. 

“No need. We got it covered. You finish your meeting,” Thor told him. “Don’t worry so much.” Styrk nodded reluctantly and sat back down and the other two vanished in a gust of wind and a flash of ice.


	10. Chapter 10

Loki appeared with Ben in a large, bare stone room containing nothing but glowing runes carved into the walls. “Go ahead and let it go kiddo,” he said encouragingly. He saw Ben look worriedly at him. “It’s okay. You can’t hurt me or anything else as long as you’re in this room.” That was all it took before there was suddenly an explosion of raw power that caused the runes to glow brighter and then there was a huge cyclone whipping around the room. Only the fact that Loki was an archangel allowed him to fight through the hammering winds to get to Ben in the center looking rather frightened as he stood in the eye of the storm. Once Loki made it through, he stepped up and put his hands on Ben’s shoulders and told him. “It’s okay, Ben. We’re fine and it can’t make it out of here, even if someone were able to open the door. Now just focus and try to bring it under control,” he said calmly. He could have easily gotten rid of it himself, but it would be better if Ben could manage. 

“I…I don’t know how,” Ben said, as he lost his battle with his tears. 

Loki turned him around and put his hands on the boys cheeks, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. “It’s okay, Ben. Really. There’s nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be upset about, okay? Your own powers can’t hurt you ever, and they can’t hurt me either. We’re safe and so is everyone else. Understand?”

“But…how do I…”

“You have to be calm first, so let’s just work on that okay?” Loki said raising his voice as the winds started to get harder and louder the more upset Ben got. “Focus on my breathing and do it with me. In…and out. In…and out.” After a few minutes Ben was breathing normally and the tears had stopped. The cyclone had reduced, but was still raging. “Excellent. See, it’s better already. Now you remember that itchy feeling you had?” Ben nodded. “Okay now close your eyes and try to feel where that itch was coming from. Just nod when you got it.” It took a few minutes before Ben gave the signal. “Can you feel the power flowing from there?” Ben nodded again. “Now focus on calling it back.”

Ben’s eyes snapped open and he looked at Loki in confusion, causing the winds to pick back up again, but not nearly as bad as they had gotten before. “How?” 

“Okay, think of it like fishing. Have you ever been fishing?” Ben shook his head. “Okay but you know how a fishing pole works?” Ben nodded. “Okay, just imagine that you’re reeling in your powers like you would a fish.”

Ben closed his eyes and focused again, finding the place his powers were pouring from and started reeling them in, glad for the steadying hands on his shoulders keeping him grounded. He missed the way Loki looked around proudly as the winds started to die down, and he kept going until he felt all the power get locked back inside him and opened his eyes hopefully to see a perfectly calm room and Loki pulled him into a hug. “That was great, Ben. Truly. You did amazing.”

Ben sank into the hug for a moment until his knees gave out and Loki chuckled and scooped him up in his arms, flying them back to the suite. The danger was over and he had worn himself out pretty good. 

He arrived to see that the explosion had apparently woken Bobby and he smiled at them all as he settled on the couch with Ben clinging to him in his exhaustion. He knew instinctively that Ben couldn’t handle being alone right now and was probably pretty scared of himself so he just pulled the boy to his side where he relaxed tiredly, barely keeping his eyes open. “Is he okay? Bobby asked worriedly, having gotten some idea of what was going on from Thor and Hjert. 

“He’ll be fine. He just released a lot of power down there,” he told them all before looking to Thor. “Looks like you get a little apprentice though, big brother. He called up the most beautiful cyclone you’ve ever seen.” Thor gave his own proud smile at that. He had been so disappointed when neither Hjert nor Stryk channeled air, so he would finally have someone to teach the finer points of the element too. Thor did a double take when Loki said the next part though, “And then he pulled it back himself.”

“He what?” Thor asked wide-eyed, gaze darting to the child that was now dozing against the trickster god. 

“Is that a good thing?” Hjert asked realizing there was more here than he knew. 

“It’s an unheard of thing. Air is nearly as volatile as fire and a cyclone is the hardest part of it to control,” Thor told him. “How…”

“Well once I managed to make it to the center of the storm and get him calmed down, I managed to talk him through it. I didn’t know if he’d manage, but I wanted to give him a chance at least before I did it myself.”

Thor blinked in shock for a moment before he said, “The first time I called a cyclone, I was hysterical. It was terrifying. It didn’t help that we were outside and it was wreaking havoc over the grounds and throwing people all over the place, including father. By the time a weather god arrived to dispel it, I was a mess and petrified of my own powers. I would imagine it helped to be somewhere safe and to have the time to talk him through it.” Thor was glad he had that. Once a child comes to fear themselves, it just makes everything so much harder later. 

“How old were you?” Hjert asked sympathetically. 

“Ten,” Thor replied. “That’s when the more active powers begin to awaken.” He finally wasn’t able to stop himself from commenting anymore and looked at Loki as he said, “You realize you look ridiculous.”

Loki scrunched his eyes up in confusion as the snickers went around the room now that someone had brought it up and he snapped his fingers creating a full length mirror in front of him and joined in their laughter as he saw all of his hair standing straight up from his head and his normally immaculate robes all wrinkled and out of place. About that time, Styrk and Cas came in with Vor, and they took one look at Loki and burst into laughter themselves. 

When Vor managed to contain her giggles, she said knowingly, “I presume the child has found air?” 

“What could have given you that idea?” Thor teased her. 

“Is he okay?” Styrk asked noticing that Ben was sleeping against Loki’s side and hadn’t even stirred with the laughter in the room. 

“He will be well,” Vor told him, as the expert on the matter. “He seems to have drained his powers. He will likely sleep for a few hours. Once he wakes, make sure he eats a large meal, and he should do something sedate for the remainder of the day. Would you like me to return this afternoon or begin tomorrow instead?” she asked. 

“You think he’ll be good until tomorrow?” Styrk asked. He didn’t want Ben to end up having another explosion in the meantime if she could help him this afternoon. 

“It will likely be another day or two before he has enough power replenished to even be capable of another incident,” she assured him. 

“Okay. Then tomorrow morning is fine. Thank you, Vor.”

“You are welcome,” she said with a nod, before turning to Loki as the one who seemed to be able to answer her question. “I would be interesting in hearing exactly what happened though. It will help me to know where to begin with him.”

Loki lauched into the full tale, his pride obvious in his voice, and noticed Vor’s raised eyebrow at the part where Ben managed to reel it in on his own. “I can see he will be a promising student,” she said satisfied before turning to Thor. “I assume you will be working with him on his specialty?” She would be able to help him with his overall power and control as well as the universal powers, but she was a water. He would need an air to be able to teach him the finer points of the element. When Thor nodded, she turned back to Styrk. “I will have a schedule and a basic syllabus prepared when I arrive tomorrow morning. Depending on his aptitude and learning style, I may need to make changes. I will catch him up to his yearmates as quickly as possible without working him too hard and stunting his emotional and social growth.”

“That would be greatly appreciated, Vor. Thank you again,” Styrk told her and she smiled at them all and left.


	11. Chapter 11

At that, Styrk bent down and picked Ben up, carrying him to his room so he could sleep in his bed. Loki had warned him that Ben probably shouldn’t be alone, so he and Cas both decided to sit with him, so they could keep each other company. It was painfully obvious that quiet conversation wouldn’t wake him after all. 

Once they were gone, Hjert asked Loki, “Are you going to fix your hair and clothes?”

“Nah. I figure I’ll give the kid a chance to see it first. Let him get a good laugh. He deserves one,” Loki said with amusement shining in his eyes before turning to Bobby and asking, “So I haven’t had a chance to ask yet, but how was your date with Freyja?” 

Bobby narrowed his eyes and glared around at the three gods. “Did you idjits know she was my soulmate?” 

They all gave each other knowing smiles before Thor said, “We suspected. She told you that?” 

“No. Styrk did,” Bobby said disgruntled at the fact. 

“Then it’s not definite, but it is highly likely. She’s not the type to go out with just anyone and before last night, I would have had you checked into the mental ward if you had told me she would ever allow a human to escort her anywhere, much less a royal ball,” Loki told him. “The draw of a soulmate is the only reasonable explanation.”

“So, what the hell do I do now?” Bobby asked helplessly. “I barely know how to court a human woman, much less a goddess!”

“I’ll tell you like I told Hjert back when we first got together. You are made for each other. Literally. Everything will fall into place if you just let it. I would suggest that you take her out somewhere, and just explain all that to her. She will understand the cultural differences and that way she’ll know that if you do something horribly offensive that it may just be a cultural difference rather than intentional rudeness.”

“Okay, but where do I take her? I’d guess dinner and a movie wouldn’t be the best idea,” he pointed out. 

“Actually, that’s not half bad. I mean, not a movie movie since we don’t have those here and she wouldn’t be at all comfortable in the human world, but the thespians have a theatre…Anyone happen to have their schedule?” Hjert asked Loki and Thor. Thor vanished and the returned a moment later, handing a piece of parchment over. “Okay, so we can immediately cross out all the romantic shows. Not really her style…or yours,” he said thoughtfully as he perused the list. “Ah. Here we go. Death of a Legion. Take her to see that at the end of next week, have dinner beforehand and get the big talk out of the way, and just let things happen.” 

Bobby looked at them curiously wondering if this was really the best idea but the looks of satisfaction on all their faces finally sold him. “Okay. So where to for dinner then? I don’t know what kind of places there are around here.” In fact, Bobby couldn’t seem to figure out how the economy even worked here. There seemed to be shops and restaurants, at least in the little he’d seen, but he’d never seen any currency change hands or any barters happening. 

“The Meat Rack?” Thor suggested looking to his brothers for their opinion and they both nodded enthusiastically, so Thor turned back to Bobby. “When she arrives to meet you, just tell her that you want to take her to The Meat Rack and she’ll transport you there.”

“What about money or something? How do I pay for all this?” Bobby asked realizing that now he needed to know. 

“No such thing here,” Hjert told him. 

“How does that work?” Bobby asked curiously. 

“Everyone just does what they love and they share it with others as appropriate. We have no need for currency or wealth,” Thor told him. 

He could see that Bobby was having trouble wrapping his head around the idea so Hjert said, “Let me try. Why do you hunt?” he asked Bobby. 

“To help people and because I’m good at it,” he said matter-of-factly. 

“And if you loved to cook and were good at it and someone showed up at your doorstep hungry?” Sam asked. 

“I’d feed ‘em, of course,” Bobby said as he started to understand. “So you’re saying that everyone just takes what they’re good at and what they enjoy and donates it to everyone else expecting nothing in return?” he asked incredulously. 

“Of course, they get something in return. Every shop they go to, every event they attend, every item they procure is a type of payment for their services.”

“So, it’s like a communal thing then. Everything belongs to everyone,” Bobby realized. 

“Essentially, yes. You see, eternity is a very long time. Boredom is the enemy of all. Taking your hobbies and sharing them with others is the easiest way to combat it. Someone who loves to cook, would have far too much time on their hands if they cooked only for themselves. Someone who loves to craft would soon find themselves with their home overflowing. Someone who loves to perform doesn’t get much satisfaction from performing to an empty room. It helps us all,” Loki explained. 

Bobby finally got it. When put that way it made perfect sense. “What about for humans who are stuck living forever with these bond things? We’d get bored too,” he asked, wondering if there was a place here for humans. 

“You don’t have to have powers to have something to offer, Bobby,” Hjert assured him, realizing that he was trying to think ahead. If things with Freyja worked out, the subject of bonding would come up eventually. “You could be a researcher. You could run a kid’s sports camp. You could even run some booths down at the fairgrounds. Being powerless doesn’t mean useless.”

“Back to the crisis at hand,” Bobby said still nervous about the very idea of dating a goddess. “How would I go about asking her? It’s not like I can just pick up a phone and call her.”

“Send her a message,” Loki said with a shrug. “Or you can hang around the entrance hall waiting for court to let out and ask her in person, but I’d suggest the message.”

“How do I do that?” Bobby asked. 

“Talk to Mattie down in the entrance hall. She’s the messenger goddess. Usually people just tell her what they want to say and to whom and she sends it off, but if you would prefer her not knowing, you can always write something up yourself and take it to her and ask her to send it,” Hjert told him. 

“Okay. Yeah. I think I’ll do that,” Bobby said thoughtfully and Thor handed him a blank parchment and a pen. He picked it up to write and then stopped before turning and asking, “Humans have a few different spellings of her name recorded. What is the correct spelling?” 

“F-R-E-Y-J-A,” Hjert spelled out, and Bobby nodded his thanks and started writing. 

Once he was finished he folded it up and said, “I’ll just head home after,” as he started walking down to the entrance hall to find Mattie before he lost his nerve. Since he could only enter or leave from the entrance hall it wasn’t worth walking back up just to walk back down later to leave and he knew that he could receive a reply just as easily at home as he could here, if she replied at all, and at least at home he had plenty of distractions to keep his mind off of it. 

When Ben woke up a few hours later, he sat up suddenly and a little fearfully and looked around the room wildly until his eyes lit on his father and Cas. He jumped on them both with big hugs and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“Hey, it’s okay kiddo. It happens. You know that. Uncle Loki said you did really good. He’s very proud of you. We all are,” Styrk assured him, rubbing his back. 

“Yes. We are. In fact, we are more at fault than you are. We did not expect your powers to build up so quickly. We should have been more focused on you than the public events,” Cas said regretfully. 

“No, it’s okay. Really. I had fun. It’s part of my job right and all kids lose control like that you said, so there was really no harm done,” Ben switched to comforting his fathers, not wanting them to forbid future events or start being even more overprotective. “Now that I know what it feels like, I’ll start telling someone when I’m feeling all itchy so we can go to the safe room,” he promised. 

Styrk just shook his head at his son’s antics with a chuckle. He had been trying to tell Cas the same things, and despite feeling that they should have focused more on Ben than the ball as well, he saw no reason for them to beat themselves up over it. Now that they were all feeling better, they headed back to the common room and Ben collapsed into giggles as soon as he saw Loki


	12. Chapter 12

Now that Ben had gotten his laugh, Loki snapped his fingers and fixed his hair and clothes. “You feeling a little better now, Benji?” he asked. 

“Still a little tired, but not so itchy and uncomfortable anymore,” Ben told him. 

“Good,” Loki said ruffling his hair. “Just let us know if you start feeling like that again.”

“I will Uncle Loki. Thanks,” Ben said beaming glad to see that no one else seemed to be upset with him either. 

“Now, while you were out, we met with your new tutor, Ms. Vor. She said you should take it easy this afternoon and just do some reading and she’ll come by in the morning and start working with you to catch you up to the other kids your age.”

“Once I’m caught up, do I get to go to school?” he asked hopefully. 

“Absolutely,” Styrk promised and then grinned at Ben’s little celebratory dance. “That’s not taking it easy,” he pointed out and handed him a book, motioning to the couch. 

“We’ll catch you guys later,” Hjert said as he and Loki were getting ready to head out. They had only been waiting for Ben to wake up. 

“Me too. I’ll probably go browse the library or something,” Thor added. He knew that the more people that were around the less likely Ben would be to actually take it easy. 

Once the three of them left, Cas turned to Styrk. “I’ll hang out here with Ben. Go play with your brother.”

“You sure?” Styrk said hopefully. He and Thor hadn’t gotten much bonding time lately since he’d been focusing on his son, not wanting to foist him off on others more than he had to. Even Cas. 

“I’m sure. Go,” Cas said with a smile. 

Once Dean was out the door, Ben smiled at Cas. “Thanks, Papa. I love Dad and all but he kinda hovers a lot.”

“He’s always done that to your Uncle Hjert as well. It’s just his way of caring, but it can get a bit stifling at times.”

“Tell me about it,” Ben said before going back to his book. 

Loki and Hjert began wandering the halls looking for a particular maid. They could have gone down and had Mattie send her a message asking her to come to them or asking her where she was so they could find her, but they wanted to keep anyone else out of this for now. They finally ran across her cleaning some of the guest rooms on the second floor. “Prita! Just the lady we were looking for,” Loki said genially. 

“My lords,” she said bowing low. “How may I serve you?” 

“Are you able to take a break for a few minutes to speak with us?” Hjert asked, not really wanting to interrupt her, but knowing that she wouldn’t say no regardless and sure enough she didn’t. They led her to the public study on the same floor and warded the door against all entry, even their brothers. They didn’t want any interruptions. 

“So, we noticed your name on a particular list when we were discussing having a child,” Loki said eyes sparking with mischief as he waited for it to dawn on her what they were asking. 

It took her a moment before her eyes widened, and she said, “Oh! My lords! I…I would be honored!”

“First thing though. If you’re going to become family, you will have to start calling us by our names. No more of this ‘lords’ business. Same goes for our brothers too. We’ll let them know tonight,” Hjert told her. 

She nodded nervously, biting her lip. “What role would you wish me to take with the child?” 

“We were hoping you would be agreeable to being his or her aunt, generally speaking. Specifically, wet nurse and nanny, though you will likely only need to watch him or her during court days,” Loki said. 

“What of my current duties?” she asked. 

“We can easily find a replacement, temporary or permanent. That is up to you,” Hjert said gently. “Even if we do get a permanent replacement, when the child is grown, you will still always have a place here in the castle. We can always make a little more room on the staff.”

“So, what do you say? You wanna do it?” Loki asked nearly bouncing with anticipation. 

“Oh, yes, my lo…L-L-Loki,” she corrected with a stammer.

“S’ok doll. We’ll work on that,” he told her with a wink. 

“Would you like to do the ritual now?” she asked. 

Loki and Hjert looked at each other and came to a silent agreement. “If you’re agreeable, then yes,” Hjert said hopefully. She quickly agreed so Loki snapped his fingers and a small bed appeared in the study and she laid down on it and pulled up her tunic, baring her stomach. Loki and Hjert each placed a hand on her stomach, interlocking their fingers and began to chant in unison until there was a brief flash of light, that sank into Prita’s stomach. 

“May I continue my normal duties for the next few months?” she asked. 

They once again looked at each other, and Hjert nodded towards Loki to tell him it was up to him. It didn’t matter either way to Hjert. “You may until you begin to show. Until then only we, and our brothers and nephew will know about this. Once you begin to show we will announce it to the council and staff, at which point you will need to be moved upstairs to the more secure living quarters with a guard whenever leaving. We will, of course, instruct the guards not to hinder your daily life any more than necessary.”

“That is acceptable, my…L-Loki,” she said a little bit easier than last time. She had expected to be under guard during the pregnancy. They were kings and their progeny must be protected at all costs. She was glad that she was still able to go about life as normal until her state became obvious though and was grateful that they allowed it. 

“One other thing,” Loki told her with a mischievous grin. “You will have to learn to get used to hugs,” he told her pulling her in for a warm hug ignoring the fact that he could feel the heat from her blush against his neck as she tentatively hugged him back. Once he let her go, she found herself wrapped in Hjert’s arms next as he whispered his heartfelt thanks. 

They took a nice long walk outside, hand in hand, as they considered the fact that they were going to become parents in nine months and only headed back in when it was time for dinner. They corralled their brothers into having dinner in the suite, and waited until they were all seated around the table before Loki broke the news. “Hjert and I have decided to have a child.”

“That’s wonderful!” Thor was the first to respond enthusiastically. “I call godfather!” 

“You can’t ‘call’ godfather you dolt!” Styrk said smacking him in the head. “I’m happy for you,” he told the couple. 

“As am I,” Cas told them. 

“I’m gonna be a cousin? That’s awesome!” was Ben’s response. 

“Have you decided on a carrier yet?” Thor asked curiously. 

“Decided and implanted,” Hjert said with a happy grin. “We did that this afternoon.”

“How long have you two been discussing this?” Styrk asked, hoping it wasn’t something they did on a whim. 

“We decided not long after Ben got here. We wanted to wait until things were settled with him first though. We didn’t want to risk the council deciding against him if they found out we had another child on the way,” Hjert told him. Ben knew all the politics and stuff involved so he wasn’t bothered by the idea that they could have decided against him if he wasn’t ‘needed’. He knew that he still could have joined. He would have just had to wait until he was old enough to undergo the trials. Given all that, he nodded in thanks to his uncles. He was glad that they had been willing to put off something they obviously wanted badly for his sake. It never failed to make him feel loved and wanted. 

“This calls for a celebration!” Thor said happily.

“As long as it’s just for those of us in this room. No one else is to know yet,” Loki told him. 

“Oh,” Thor deflated sadly. He wanted to share the good news with the world. “Well who’s the girl anyway?” he asked realizing they hadn’t gotten that information. 

“Prita,” Hjert said with a grin. “We told her that since she’s family now, she has to call us by our names from now on, just in private until the news is out. She wants to keep working until it becomes obvious that she’s pregnant and then we’ll announce it to the staff and council and we can have a feast.”


	13. Chapter 13

The night of Bobby’s date with Freyja rolled around and, as they expected, Bobby showed up at the castle a few hours early so they could help him with something to wear. It wasn’t like he could go out in the human world and buy appropriate clothing. Loki, as the one among them least averse to shopping, decided that one of these days he would take Bobby out for an Asgardian wardrobe. Assuming tonight went well of course. Since this date was far less formal than the last, Bobby was glad that they were able to leave off the over-robe, though there was a vest over his tunic and the cut and material seemed pretty fancy. Once he gave the okay, they sat down to wait. Well, the rest of them sat and watched Bobby pace as they tried to hide their amusement. 

Bobby hadn’t been pacing long when Ben came home from his tutoring session. “Wow, Uncle Bobby. You look nice,” he said as soon as he got a look at him. He was used to seeing Bobby in jeans and flannel with a trucker hat. Other than the ball, this was the first time he’d seen him dressed up. 

“Thanks, Ben. How were your lessons?” Bobby asked desperate for a subject to keep his mind off what he was about to do. Those seemed to be the magic words to open the floodgates though and he was able to keep his mind occupied by trying to keep up with the chatter about all his new lessons and everything he’d learned the last week and a half and how nice Ms. Vor was. 

Loki interrupted though and pointed out that Bobby had ten minutes before he was scheduled to meet Freyja and Bobby quickly dashed out of the room. It would only take a few minutes to get down to the entrance hall, but he wanted to be at least a little early. He had no idea if goddesses were perpetually late like human women, but he wasn’t about to take that chance. 

Freyja arrived in the entrance hall of the castle and saw Bobby standing there looking quite dashing and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She had taken a chance at the ball, but had been unsure if he would follow up on the blatant invitation. Even when she got the request for dinner and a show, she still wasn’t sure. Not until she saw him standing here. She smiled warmly when he caught her eye and walked over to him, kissing his cheek in greeting. He smile widened when she noticed him blush. 

“You look beautiful,” Bobby finally managed to say as he took in what could only be described as a battle dress. It hugged her slight curves, and seemed designed to aid in the ease of movement. The skirt was ripped into layered sections so that the movement of her legs wouldn’t be restricted. The top looked almost like armored scales and he absently wondered if it was dragonhide and though it was sleeveless, it covered all of her shoulders. She wore a necklace with a large blood red gem hanging at the center of her chest. At first, he thought it might be a ruby, but the color was too deep and it was too vibrant to be a ruby. Her hair was done in one long braid and that seemed to make her sapphire eyes stand out even more. 

“You look very dashing as well,” she said pleased and took the arm he held out. “Did you have a particular destination in mind for the evening?” she asked. 

“The…The Meat Rack?” he took a second to remember the name of the restaurant. “And then I thought we could see Death of a Legion at The Thespian House.”

“That sounds wonderful. Would you like me to transport us to dinner?” she asked. 

“That would be great.”

“I will warn you that I am a fire element. I understand it can be a bit uncomfortable for humans if they are unused to it,” she told him. 

“That’s okay. I’ve ridden in fire a few times. As long as you don’t set me on fire like Styrk did once,” he said with a nervous chuckle. 

Freyja laughed heartily. “I assure you. I have not set anyone on fire…accidentally…in a few million years,” she said as they disappeared, landing in front of their destination. Once they landed, she asked, “Why did Styrk set you on fire?” as they headed inside and found a table. 

“I usually try to ride with one of the others, but he was the only one around at the moment so I figured I’d let him take him me home rather than hunt down someone else. I didn’t realize he had been drinking though and we both ended up on fire at the other end.”

“That must have been painful,” she said sympathetically. Fire couldn’t hurt her, but she knew that it did others. Especially humans. 

“Wasn’t the best experience I’ve ever had,” Bobby said with a chuckle. “Wasn’t the worst either though, and at least Loki was able to heal me up.”

At that point one of the staff showed up to take their order. Over the course of the meal, Bobby found himself impressed at just how much such a small woman could put away. He supposed that she probably tried to keep her power levels as high as possible given her position, so it made sense. That didn’t make the sight any less impressive though. He was surprised at how well this was going. He usually made a huge fool of himself on the rare occasions he attempted to date, but she was very easy to talk to and he couldn’t help but feel relaxed with her. 

As they were waiting for dessert, he decided to bring up the subject Loki had suggested. “I feel like I should warn you that I don’t really know what I’m doing here,” he said. She looked at him curiously and he explained. “I’ve never been very good with women and dating. And that was human women. I usually find myself so completely lost that I end up messing everything up, and I don’t want to do that here.”

She smiled warmly at him. “I understand. I am in somewhat the same situation. Most men are intimidated by my position and my demeanor, so I get very little practice. I would wager that I know even less about human men than you do about pagan women so we will simply have to learn together.”

“That sounds good,” Bobby said relieved. 

After dessert they walked to The Thespian House, since it was only about ten minutes away and Bobby found himself blown away by the pagan theatre. Not only were their powers able to create and destroy realistic sets in no time, but there was really something to be said for a battle scene when the actors couldn’t be truly hurt by real weapons. The kings had arranged them to be in the front row and Bobby had even been splattered with real blood a few times. It wasn’t really a traditional ‘date’ kind of play, but since they both enjoyed themselves, he didn’t particularly care. 

After the show, he didn’t really want the evening to end yet, so he invited her to take a walk, and she agreed. She hung on his arm as they walked around town, occasionally entering a shop to look around, but mostly just walking and talking. When Bobby tried to stifle a yawn, Freyja smiled and said, “We should probably call it a night.”

“Yeah. I guess we should,” he said disappointed as she flamed them back to the castle. He was surprised to see that they had arrived outside rather than in the entrance hall, but he soon saw why as she caught his eye and leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips. 

Freyja had decided that she would likely have to initiate their first kiss, but she would let him decide where it went from there and she wasn’t disappointed as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and pull her tightly against him as he deepened the kiss. She tangled her fingers in his hair and kissed him back eagerly. She had heard that the first kiss between soulmates was breath-taking, but nothing could have compared her for this. 

Bobby was in much the same state. It was like the whole world just stopped the moment their lips met. He no longer had a single doubt that this goddess was his soulmate and he would do absolutely anything for her. When they finally had to break apart for air, they didn’t part far as his forehead rested against hers and their breath mingled between their lips. “When can I see you again?” Bobby asked in almost a whisper. 

“How about tomorrow evening? Perhaps you could take me for an evening in your world and show me the difference?” she asked. 

“I think you’ll be very underwhelmed, but I’d be happy to,” Bobby told her, pulling her in for another kiss. “Will you be able to find my house?” he asked when they broke apart again. 

“Take this,” she told him, pulling another of the pendants like she was wearing out of thin air and handing it to him. “I will be able to locate this anywhere.” Bobby took it and put it in his pocket. “Good night, Bobby,” she said in almost a whisper, pressing one more short kiss to his lips and then disappeared in a flash of fire before she couldn’t. 

Bobby, still feeling a bit dazed walked into the entrance hall and took his other pendant in his hand and headed home. He arrived only to hear banging on his front door. He cursed and went to answer it finding Rufus on the front steps. “Bobby, I need your help…what the hell are you wearing?”

Bobby shook the cobwebs out of his head and looked from Rufus, down at his clothes, and then back up to Rufus. “Balls.”


	14. Chapter 14

A couple hours after Bobby had left, Thor received a note. Michael was asking him to arrange for an audience with the leadership of the free angels. Thor immediately decided that the audience would be held at the interdimensional house, assuming he could get Loki to agree, and that he and Michael were going to take a little vacation together afterwards. He couldn’t stand this separation for much longer. He needed a break from it. He needed Michael. He hadn’t realized just how much until the ball and being separated like this was killing him. 

He managed to track Loki down in the library with Hjert, and sat down to tell him about Michael’s request and ask for his help. “Anael will not be happy about being called to meet with Michael. We will all need to be there to reassure her that it is not a trap,” Loki told him. 

“The fact that we will be using your house and that you would never let Michael there if you didn’t trust him should help,” Thor said hopefully. 

Loki nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. Hopefully. We should definitely not tell her who she’s meeting beforehand though. It will make things stickier at first, but if she knows he’ll be there, she’d never show up.”

“You’ll handle scheduling things with her?” Thor asked. 

“Sure. I’m guessing Michael wants this as soon as possible?” 

“That was my impression, yes.”

“I’ll try for tomorrow morning after Ben starts his lessons. That way he’ll be occupied. And yes, you and Michael can use the house after,” Loki said despite the fact that Thor hadn’t asked. Whether he was planning on doing so or not, Loki intended to make him. He could see the weight that this distance was putting on Thor’s shoulders and it had only gotten worse after the ball. He had been able to see it in Michael’s eyes then as well. He remembered how difficult it had been for him to be separated from Hjert when their relationship was still secret, and he didn’t want to see Thor and Michael go through what he had. 

Loki headed out to find Mattie and sit with her while he went back and forth with Anael to set a time and the eventually agreed on midmorning, about twelve hours away. He had Mattie send one more message to Michael with the time and asking him to meet Thor here in the castle. It would be easier if Michael arrived after Anael’s group. He could try to block the from sensing Michael, but there were no guarantees there. 

At the appointed time, Loki flew himself, Hjert, Styrk, and Cas to the house and temporarily remodeled the living room into something more like a conference room. They might as well set the correct tone from the jump. He wasn’t sure what Michael wanted, but he was sure this would become a negotiation at some point. Anael arrived shortly after everything was set up along with Ezekiel. When she arrived, Anael, pulled Loki into a hug, followed by the other three. “You said something about meeting with someone?” she asked curiously. 

“He’ll be here momentarily,” Loki said not giving anything away. 

 

Just as Loki left, Michael arrived, and pulled Thor into a passionate kiss and Thor just sank gratefully into it. When they parted, Thor said, “We should go. Loki’s holding the door open for us, so to speak.”

“I know,” Michael said breathlessly, forehead leaning against Thor’s as he held the thunder god tightly in his arms. “I just…God, I need you Thor,” he said shakily. 

“Me too, Michael,” he whispered running a hand through Michael’s short black hair. “Once this is over, we can stay at the house…outside of time…and have a little vacation. Just the two of us.”

“Oh, god, yes,” Michael said desperately, pulling Thor in for another quick kiss. “So, let’s get this over with then.” When Thor nodded, Michael flew them away, landing in the lounge as Loki had ordered, before squaring his shoulders and walking out side by side with Thor. 

As much as he had been expecting it, seeing the fear on his brother’s and sister’s face as they tried to flee when he walked into the room had broken his heart. Especially as that fear increased as they realized that Loki had locked down the wards to keep them from doing that very thing. Before he could say anything, Anael turned to Loki and said accusingly, “You sold us out! How could you?”

“Just stay calm, Anael. No one will be harmed here. This is a completely peaceful meeting. You have my solemn vow on that,” Loki assured her sincerely. 

“I want an oath on your grace,” she said heatedly, causing Ezekiel to gasp in shock. She held no loyalty to hold secrets to someone who had trapped her here with their greatest enemy. 

Loki winced as he realized his secret was about to be out, but he could always swear Ezekiel to secrecy or even wipe his mind if he was left with no other choice. He hadn’t expected Anael to feel quite THAT betrayed, but he should have. “Very well. I, Gabriel, vow by my grace and my life that all parties will leave here unharmed and unfollowed at the conclusion of this meeting and I alone will decide when that will be.” That would hopefully reassure them that Michael couldn’t keep them prisoner here either by refusing to officially end the meeting. He was the one that controlled the wards anyway. 

She glared at him and then turned to Michael determined to make him recognize their place. “I am the leader of the free angels and this is my second Ezekiel.”

Michael recognized the posturing for what it was, and had no intention of making things any more difficult than they had to be. He bowed low in respect for their position as leaders, and said, “Thank you for meeting with me. Shall we sit?” 

Anael huffed and all but flung herself into a seat, Ezekiel sitting a bit more gingerly at her side. “What do you want Michael?” she snarled. 

“First, I want to apologize. I have come to realize how far I have driven heaven from our father’s vision. I have made a great many mistakes, and despite the fact that I could never hope to make amends, I am still attempting to fix things as much as I am able. I will not insult you by asking for forgiveness for the unforgivable, but I do ask that you hear me out.”

Anael felt a large part of her anger evaporate at the way that Michael was so obviously laying himself bare and she looked at Ezekiel who nodded. “We’re listening.”

“The first thing you should know is that Raphael is dead,” he paused to give them a second to recover from their shock. “When he saw what he perceived as my weakness, he attempted to kill me and take control of heaven alone. He managed to get the better of me and nearly killed me, and I went to the kings of Asgard for assistance since Raphael intended to solidify his rule by bringing war to the pagans. With their help, I managed to regain my rightful place from Raphael and stop the war before it began. I also managed to come to terms with everything I had done, and realize my mistakes, but heaven is now in a far more precarious position than it has ever been.”

“I don’t see how this is our problem,” Anael said coldly. 

“I am here, not as your former commander, but as your brother, asking you for your help,” Michael pleaded and he could see her soften even more, and he nearly had Ezekiel completely hooked. “We are on the verge of civil war. The seraphs remaining no longer understand how to love. They no longer understand joy and happiness.”

“And whose fault is that?” Anael snapped annoyed with herself for the sympathy she was feeling. 

“Mine. I know that and have no intention of hiding from that fact. Once Raphael’s poisonous influence was out of the way, I tried to give them the choice. Tried to give them the opportunity to find their feelings again, but those who are trying and those who are not are at odds with each other. Each side feels that the other are traitors and none of them understand the concept of family.”

“What do you expect us to do?” she asked. 

“Ideally, I want you to come home. All of you. You may stay in Loki’s service. You need not pledge yourselves back to me. You will remain free to leave should you find yourselves unsatisfied. I want…no I NEED you to show them what they are missing. Help me teach them. I want you to be my second Anael. Help them…and me…to remember. To rebuild heaven to its former glory.” 

“You want us to abandon the community that we’ve built in order to run back to a place filled with so many bad memories to help stop a war between those who were attempting to hunt us down not so long ago?” she asked incredulously. 

“I said, ideally. I came here willing to bargain for less. I will accept whatever help you are willing to offer,” Michael told her. “Heaven is still your home, Anael. I know that it hasn’t seemed like it for a long time, but you can help me fix it. For everyone. You can give everyone the chance to be as happy as you are. Please don’t turn your backs on us the way we turned our backs on you. Come home.”

“I can make no decisions here without the approval of my people. They will never accept abandoning our community now. Not after working so hard at it. And especially not for you or your minions,” she told him and his face fell in defeat. “What is it you are intending to do in heaven. What changes exactly do you plan to make?”

“We will still need an army. We will still need soldiers, but they will be volunteer only. I hope to create a trade center with shops, restaurants, recreation once we have the people with the talent and desire to do so. I know that there will be some, perhaps even many, who will never embrace the idea of emotions, and I will not force them to, as long as they treat others with respect, they will be treated the same. I have already begun to tear down many of the utilitarian structures and expand the garden once more. I want to build a place where ALL angels are free to live as they wish.”

Anna thought about that for a moment. “I will make a counter-offer that I will ATTEMPT to talk them into. I will come and be your second as you asked, and Ezekiel can take my place in our community. I may still have to go back and forth from time to time and I will be free to do so. In return, I will ask for volunteers to serve as ambassadors to heaven. We will mingle with them and try to teach them, but we will live separately from them. We will have our own lodgings where we can retreat to in privacy and we remain free always. That is the most I can offer. 

“Then I will happily accept. I would just request one minor change.” She glared at him giving the impression that if she didn’t like what he had to request she would definitely make it known. “It would be easier if, as my second, you reside in the central hall with me. You would of course be free to go between there and your people’s lodging as you wish, but it would be best if your primary rooms were near me.”

“I will remain with my people. At least at the start. Perhaps when there is a little more trust and goodwill between us, I will consider your request again,” she told him firmly. 

“I understand,” he said with a respectful nod. 

“I will discuss this with my people and get back to you within the week,” she told him before turning to Loki. She wanted to ask how they had managed to forgive Michael for killing their father and king. Why on earth they were helping him now. She knew that it wasn’t her place to ask and even if it were, she had no intention of doing so in front of Michael. There would be no way to tell if any answer she got was the truth. “Is this meeting concluded now?” she asked evenly. 

“As soon as I say that I’m sorry, Anael. I’m sorry for locking you in and for bringing you here without knowing who you were to meet. I hope this hasn’t damaged the trust between us. I…I hope you still consider me your brother,” he said casting his eyes down to the floor. 

As much as Anael hated Michael, she loved Gabriel dearly and seeing him so downhearted at the thought of her turning away from him, nearly broke her heart. She felt the wards lift showing that she was free to leave, but instead she walked around the table to where Loki was standing back away from the ‘action’ and pulled him into a hug. “You’ll always be my favorite brother, Gabriel. As long as we leave in peace, you did not betray us. I’m sorry for spilling your secret. I’ll make sure Ezekiel tells no one.”

“Thank you, Anael,” Loki said as he wrapped his arms tightly around her before whispering in her ear. “Please consider his request. He’s really trying his best.” She nodded before she stepped back and motioned Ezekiel and they both disappeared.

Once they were gone, Loki turned to Michael and Thor and said, "We'll just leave you two alone now. Have fun," he said with a knowing smirk as he flew himself, Hjert, Styrk, and Cas out of there.


	15. Chapter 15

Where we left Bobby…

Bobby, still feeling a bit dazed walked into the entrance hall and took his other pendant in his hand and headed home. He arrived only to hear banging on his front door. He cursed and went to answer it finding Rufus on the front steps. “Bobby, I need your help…what the hell are you wearing?”

Bobby shook the cobwebs out of his head and looked from Rufus, down at his clothes, and then back up to Rufus. “Balls.”

Chapter 15

 

“Come on Bobby. What’s with the getup?” Rufus asked again. 

“None of your damn business,” Bobby said for lack of anything better to say. “Now what the hell you do you want?” 

“No, no. That’s okay. It can wait. I have a feeling this story is going to be far more interesting.”

“There ain’t no damn story. I done told you it ain’t none of our damn business,” Bobby said even more firmly, deciding to stick with that story. 

“Oh, I see,” Rufus said, eyes lit with amusement. “You got you a lady friend and she’s into some kind of freaky role play stuff huh?” 

“What do you want, Rufus!” Bobby said getting frustrated now. 

“I just need a place to lie low for a few days,” Rufus told him seeing that he wasn’t going to get any farther on his line of questioning. 

“What, now?” Bobby asked incredulously. 

“No. Next month. I figured I’d give you advance notice so you can pencil me in…yes, now.”

“You have got to have the most shit timing on the whole damn planet. Get in here, you idjit,” Bobby said, slamming the door behind him and turning to go upstairs. 

“Hey, where you going, Bobby?” 

“I’m going upstairs to change clothes and go to bed,” Bobby snapped. “Not that that’s any of your business either!” Rufus’ laugh followed him up the stairs where he did just as he said he would, changed clothes and collapsed into bed, but sleep was a long time coming. He was trying to figure out the best way to keep Rufus away from Freyja. Rufus didn’t seem to be so much against the pagans since Bobby had started his crusade, but there was still no telling what he would do if he came face to face with one. Not to mention he didn’t want his secret about his relationship with Asgard, and thus the Winchester’s secret to get out, even if Rufus would accept it. The man’s mouth leaked like a sieve. 

Finally, he decided there was nothing for it. He would have to take the necklace and go out to wait for her and he wouldn’t be able to bring her home. Not that he was definitely planning on it anyway, but it would have been nice to have the option at least. Maybe he should claim he had a hunt and spend a few days in Asgard after his date. He briefly considered cancelling, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. She wanted to see the human world, he was going to show it to her. Yeah. He would tell Rufus he was going on a hunt and would be gone a few days and just tell him to lock up when he left. 

The next day was an exercise in patience waiting for time to leave. When the time came he packed up the car, and gave his houseguest the story. He had on a pair of his nice jeans, and his dress shirt was underneath his flannel. He planned to take it and his hat off once he got down the road. Thankfully, he knew Rufus well enough to know that when he was ‘laying low’ there was no way he was gonna go on the road so he didn’t have to worry about convincing him not to come along. 

He had picked a spot about a mile up the road in the middle of nowhere to wait for Freyja. He wasn’t sure how the car would interfere with her transport so he got out and stood a little bit away and she appeared right on time. She smiled brightly at him and pressed a short kiss to his lips in greeting before looking around confused. “Sorry. I know we were going to meet at my house, but I got a last-minute houseguest,” he explained. “He’s a hunter too, so I didn’t want you to just pop in there, but I couldn’t make him leave either. See, we used to run together. He taught me everything I know and we’ve saved each other’s lives a dozen times at least so…”

“He is your brother in battle,” she said understandingly, cut off his ramble. “And he needed your assistance. Of course, you must help him. I understand.”

Bobby smiled with relief. “I thought you might.” He motioned her to the car. “Shall we go?” 

She sat gingerly in the car looking at it curiously and couldn’t help but jump in surprise when he started it up. He laughed and they spent the ride with him explaining the concept of automobiles. He had decided to do dinner and a movie as a contrast to their date last night. He wanted to show her the human version. They went to a small diner for diner and then the cinema. He had been planning a different movie, but when she saw that one of the Thor movies was playing, her complete curiosity had him buying tickets for that one instead. He couldn’t help but laugh at her expected reaction. 

Everything was going great until they were in the lobby of the theatre and some young punk came up and said, “This old guy bothering you toots?” 

Freyja looked at Bobby. “What is a toots?” 

“It’s like…well…no I don’t think there is such a disrespectful slang term for women in your culture,” he told her. 

“May I thrash him?” she asked completely offended now, between the disrespectful address, his insult to her mate, and the implication that she needed his protection. 

“Probably not the best idea. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for accidentally killing him,” Bobby told her amusedly. 

“Perhaps you are right,” she said disappointed. 

Then the little punk made the biggest mistake of his life. He laughed. “Dainty little thing like you? Right.” 

Bobby threw up his hands in surrender and gave the kid a pitying look. “You done did it now,” he said just as Freyja jumped forward and in under a second had his arm wrenched behind his back while he was on his knees in front of her and one of her arms around his throat, choking him. 

“You will treat me with respect, you miserable little worm or I will slice you open and feast on your intestines. Understood?” He gave what seemed to be an attempt at a nod so she let him go and shoved him to the floor before stepping back towards Bobby who just held out an arm for her and they walked away as if it never happened. 

“I’m proud of your restraint,” Bobby told her as they walked into the theatre. 

“He is just an insignificant little human. He was not worth the trouble killing him would cause,” she told him. 

As they were leaving the movie, she told him, “I am unsure whether to be offended or amused by their portrayal.”

Bobby laughed heartily. “If it helps, Thor thought it was hilarious.”

“He has seen this…travesty?” she asked surprised. 

“Oh yes. He’s seen all the movies based on him and there have been quite a few.”

“I see. Well if he is not offended then I will attempt not to be so on his behalf,” she said. 

“I’m glad to hear it, Bobby said cheerfully. “I was planning to spend the next few days in the castle if you would like to join me for a little while,” he offered nervously. 

“I would like that,” she said with a smile. “Would you like me to transport us or do you have your own way?” 

“I can take my way. It drops me in the entrance hall if you want to meet me there,” he suggested. He still tried to avoid travelling by fire when possible. 

The guard at the stairwell to the upper section of the castle only let him bring her up because she was on the council. Bobby may have free run of the castle, but bringing someone else into the private sections wasn’t part of the agreement, but he decided to use his discretion in this instance and let them go, hoping he wouldn’t have to throw himself on his lord’s mercy if he was wrong. 

It was many hours before Freyja left the suite after Bobby fell asleep, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had been so happy. She planned to show him her home and village tomorrow, though she wasn’t sure how much of the village they would get to see.


	16. Chapter 16

Once they were alone, Thor turned to Michael. “Why didn’t you tell me how bad things were in heaven?”

“No,” Michael pulling Thor close to him. 

“No?” Thor asked confused. 

“No talk about heaven, or Asgard, or duty, or any of that. Right now, all that exists is you and me,” Michael told him capturing him in a deep kiss. 

When it finally ended, Thor said, “Mmm. That sounds good. Just you and me huh?” He asked as his lips moved to Michael’s neck and the archangel tilted his head to the side to give him a better angle. 

“Mmhmm,” Michael hummed running his fingers through Thor’s long blonde hair. 

They had a very relaxing time, completely wrapped up in each other for the next two weeks, but they both knew they couldn’t hide here forever, and if they stayed much longer they may never leave. Michael decided if he was going to do this it needed to be now. He couldn’t keep putting it off. As they laid in bed just enjoying each other’s company, Michael reached over and brushed a lock of Thor’s hair behind his ear and looked into his eyes. “Will you bond with me?” he asked trying to ignore the way his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest, and it only got worse when Thor froze and stiffened at the question. 

Michael could feel his heart breaking with every second that it took Thor to speak until he finally spun out of bed, dressing himself in the same move and said, “I can’t.” He walked out of the room without looking back and Michael felt everything crash down around him. He took a few gasping breaths as he tried to figure out what the hell just happened and get himself under control and it took a few minutes but he finally managed. He got out of bed and dressed as well before going downstairs to look for Thor, finding him in the kitchen making a large sandwich. 

Michael took a deep breath before he said, “Okay. That’s okay. Really.”

Thor, still with his back to Michael, closed his eyes against the pain that rushed him. It wasn’t okay. He knew that and he knew that Michael knew that. Nothing would ever be the same again. He decided not to respond to that and went and sat down at the table with his sandwich. “We should be getting back,” he said not looking at the archangel. 

“No,” Michael said simply, not taking his eyes off Thor. 

Thor finally looked up at Michael and then looked away again at the storm of emotion he could see in his eyes. “We can’t stay here forever,” he said dully. 

“I know. But I can’t let us leave here like this either,” he said. 

“So, what? You’re keeping me prisoner?” Thor asked annoyed. Why couldn’t he just let this go? Why did he have to try and drag it out?

Michael smirked. He knew that only an angel could navigate dimensions, so Michael was his ride out of here. “If that’s the way you choose to see it, but I can’t let you walk away from us. Not like this,” he said sadly as he sat down at the table. “You don’t want to bond with me right now, that’s okay. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but it’s not the end of the world. This wall you’ve put up between us though…I can’t live with that. I can’t live with losing you for good, and whether that’s your intention right now or not, that’s where this is headed if I let this go.”

Thor looked up at him, sorrow shining in his eyes. “You don’t get it. It’s not just ‘right now’ it’s ever. I can’t bond with you ever, and I don’t think either of us can live with that.”

Michael swallowed audibly trying to hold back his tears. “Why?” he asked, suddenly hoping it had something to do with politics. If that was the case he could live with it. He WOULD live with it. 

“Because I can’t,” Thor said looking away again, blinking back his own unshed tears and with that Michael’s hopes that there was a real reason fell. If that were the case, Thor would explain it. If that were the case, he wouldn’t be trying to walk away forever. 

“I can live with that, Thor,” he promised. He would take his soulmate in any way he could have him. Even if their relationship could never reach the next level. He would take it. 

“No. You can’t,” Thor said sadly. He knew that now that Michael had his heart set on forever, it would always be between them. It would never go away and it would tear them apart. One way or another, and he couldn’t bear to drag it out and risk them hating each other at the other side. No. It was better this way. “Take us back, Michael. Please,” he begged. 

“Thor…”

“Please.” 

Michael saw that he wasn’t going to get through to Thor right now and he didn’t even know where to begin. He knew that keeping him here longer would just make things worse. He sighed sadly as he got up followed by Thor. “Okay, but…” he reached out and cupped his lover’s cheek. “If you ever change your mind…about any of this…I’ll be waiting…always,” he said earnestly, leaning forward to press one last short chaste kiss on Thor’s lips. “I will always love you with everything I am.” When Thor didn’t say anything, Michael took his hand and they appeared back in the castle before he disappeared back to heaven. Thor just stood there for a moment before he vanished off to the range. He really needed to destroy some shit right now.

Loki could feel the destructive power crackling through the air and frowned in concern, heading out to the range to find Thor on a rampage. It took a moment before Thor spun around to put Loki in his line of sight and the archangel turned god, just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at his brother. 

“Leave me alone, Loki,” Thor snapped, before turning back to the task at hand. 

“Not gonna happen, big brother,” Loki said over the sound of an explosion. 

“What do you want, then?” he spun snarling. 

“Talk to me. What happened?” Loki asked concerned. 

“It’s over, that’s what happened.”

“Gonna need a little more detail than that,” Loki prompted. 

“It’s none of your business,” Thor said heatedly. 

“Well how are we gonna fix it if we don’t know what happened,” Loki tried to coax his brother into talking. 

“Maybe I don’t want it fixed. Did you ever think of that? Did you ever even think of me during your whole crusade to get your old family back? I should never have let you talk me into taking part in this charade in the first place. You turned your back on us the second you saw Michael.”

Loki was long familiar with the cold whip of his brother’s words when he was lashing out, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. And it was just about to get worse. If he walked away, Thor would take that as an admission, so that wasn’t an option. “That is a complete load of crap and you know it Thor,” he shot back. The lightning bolt shot him back into the wall before he could even get any other words out. He pulled himself back to his feet and said, “Everything I’ve done has been for you and our people.” He was slammed into the wall again. He wouldn’t fight back. He never did. Thor couldn’t really hurt him after all and if it made him feel better to knock him around a bit then so be it. Sometimes only his guilt could break through his anger. Then again, sometimes his guilt just made him even more angry, but it was the only way Loki had ever found that worked when he got this bad. 

“MY people,” Thor yelled as Loki ducked an exploding boulder. “You made your choice! You made your choice the second you brought HIM into our lives!”

“I did what I had to do to save OUR people,” Loki snapped. “YOU chose to fall in love with him. That was YOUR choice!” He was picked up by the winds and slammed into the ceiling before falling to the floor. He had taken just about as much of a beating as he was going to allow by now. 

“Because you pushed him on me. You didn’t want to take no for an answer. You…” He was cut off as he was pinned against the wall after Loki batted the lightning bolt away. 

“That…is a lie,” Loki said glaring at his brother as he used both his physical strength and his powers to hold him into place. “All I ever said on the matter was for you to do what made you happy. Not Michael. YOU.” Thor deflated a bit, until Loki asked again, “So, what did he do?” 

A storm of emotion that Loki couldn’t even begin to pick apart flew through Thor’s eyes. “He asked me to bond with him,” he snapped. 

“And that turned into this…how?” Loki asked confused. 

“It was bad enough being with the man who murdered my father, but bonding with him for eternity?” Thor snarled. 

Loki shoved him even harder against the wall. “Don’t you dare use Father to justify screwing up your life,” he said heatedly. 

Thor built up his power and shoved Loki away and the fight was back on. “You know nothing!” he snapped throwing everything he had at his brother who was dodging and blocking everything he sent. 

“I know that if Father had anything to do with it, then you never would have gone as far as you did!” Loki said over the sounds of battle. He would occasionally throw a little something back to knock Thor off balance, but mostly just stayed on defense as he always did when Thor lashed out. “You’re running scared, and you’re grasping at straws!”

Thor roared in fury and Loki suddenly found himself being the one pinned against the wall. “I’m no coward!” 

“Well you’re doing a great impression of one,” Loki snapped before flying away. He’d done as much as he could to get through to his brother. This one anyway. He still had one more to see.


	17. Chapter 17

Loki considered his next move carefully. He knew now just how bad things were in heaven, and he knew that Michael couldn’t get away, but could he really go back to heaven? In the end, only his fear that Michael would shut himself off again could have possibly dragged him back. That didn’t mean he had to let anyone else see him though. He sighed heavily and reappeared directly into Michael’s office and sealed the room. Michael could undo it if he really wanted to, and would still know if anyone was looking for him, but they wouldn’t be able to barge in and catch sight of Gabriel. When Michael felt his presence, his head snapped up and then his eyes narrowed. “What happened to you?” he asked concernedly rushing around the desk and pressing a hand to Loki’s forehead, healing him from all the bumps and bruises and minor cuts. 

“Oh, Thor’s just on a tear. No biggie,” Loki said waving it off, but grateful for the heal. It was far easier to heal someone else than it was to heal yourself. If he had given it another hour, he would have been as good as new, but he didn’t feel safe waiting that long. 

He had wanted to let Michael know that Thor wasn’t taking this whole thing very well, but he didn’t anticipate the reaction he got as Michael jumped to his feet angrily. “Thor did this to you? I’ll go…”

“You’ll go nowhere. You’ll sit down and talk to me. You know he couldn’t really hurt me anyway,” he said rolling his eyes. “It’s my own fault. You poke the bull, you get the horns, but it was better than the alternative.”

“The alternative being?” Michael asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Loki knew that Michael would need to have some idea on how to deal with Thor’s explosive moods if they were ever going to be able to make a go of this thing, and he had no illusions that this separation would last forever. Thor would pull his head out of his ass soon enough. He just had to make sure that Michael was ready when he did. “He’ll have a huge blowup and wear himself out, and then just put it on a simmer. He’ll go around all pissy and snapping at people and making everyone miserable for however long it takes someone to call him on his crap and then he’ll lose his temper again, but once it’s over he’ll be fine. This way, I called him on it right off the bat, took the abuse someone would have taken anyway, and saved us all a whole lot of misery in the meantime. He’ll still be a little pissy for a while as things sink in, but not nearly as bad as he would have been.”

Michael nodded in understanding. He had always known Thor had a temper like a tsunami. He’d just never had occasion to see it in action on a large scale. He could see why Loki would want to take things on himself. Not only was he more durable than anyone else, but he seemed to be able to just shrug it off emotionally too. At least for the most part. He could still see a little bit of hurt swirling in his baby brother’s eyes, but he had no illusions anyone else would come through any better. He and Styrk would likely have killed each other, and Hjert would have taken it a lot harder emotionally. “I can understand that,” he admitted. 

“So, I got the basics from Thor in between blows, but I wanted to get your side of the story too,” he said. 

Michael sighed sadly. “If we’re going to get into this can you at least help me get things organized while we do?” he looked helplessly at the stacks of paperwork on his desk. 

Loki shrugged and grabbed the nearest stack to flip through while Michael did the same as he talked. “Things seemed to go to hell when I asked him to bond with me. It was like he just flipped a switch and suddenly hated me. I told him it was okay if he wasn’t ready yet, but he said that he’d never be ready. I even told him I could live with that too, but he wouldn’t hear it. It was almost like he just couldn’t wait to get away from me.”

“That’s because he couldn’t,” Loki told him and didn’t miss the flash of pain in Michael’s eyes. “But it had nothing to do with you,” he rushed to assure him. “There’s one thing you have to understand about Thor. Despite his temper, he’s like a puppy in many ways. Once he latches onto someone he is unyieldingly loyal, and he’s been burned before. Badly. More than once even. It’s given him a bit of a phobia of commitment.”

“What happened?” Michael asked concerned. 

“That’s his story to tell. It’s not my place, but I will tell you that once even Father had to step in when it got bad enough to threaten the entire kingdom. The fact is, he’s terrified to give anyone that kind of power over him again, so now he’s running scared,” Loki explained. 

“I never should have brought it up,” Michael said sadly. 

“You had to eventually,” Loki pointed out. “You couldn’t have known. And when he does eventually pull his head out of his ass, you’ll both be the better for it.”

“You really think he will?” Michael asked hopefully. 

“I think that he loves you just as much as you love him and once he faces the reality of life without you, he won’t be able to stay away. He’s going to need you, sooner or later. THIS you,” Loki said pointedly. 

Michael realized that Loki was worried that he would become like he was before. That this loss would break him all over again and he gave his brother a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on changing. See, as long as Thor is alive there is still a chance for us to get through this. If I go back to the way I was before, that chance would be gone forever. I would kill myself before I let that happen.”

“Well let’s not go that far,” Loki chuckled relieved. “How about you try asking for help first?”

Michael couldn’t help a slight chuckle at that too. “Well, yes. Of course,” he agreed. 

Now that was handled, Loki pointed out three stacks of paper on his side of the desk. “Time sensitive, important but not time sensitive, and minor issues. This one you should take care of now,” he said handing over another sheet. 

“Thank you, Loki,” Michael said with a grateful smile. Despite pulling him away from his work, he had also helped speed it up exponentially. At least until he got the next load. 

“You really should consider getting a secretary to do stuff like that. It saves a lot of time,” he suggested from experience. 

“I’ll have to consider that,” Michael said with a nod. If only he had anyone he could trust who had those kinds of skills. Maybe, if Anael came through on her offer, one of her group would be able to help. He suspected they would have a better idea of what his new priorities were anyway. 

“Good. And keep your chin up Michael. All isn’t lost yet,” he said with an encouraging smile before he left and the office unsealed. 

When he got back to the castle he showed up in the suite to see Styrk, Hjert, and Cas in what seemed to be a very serious conversation. “What happened?” he asked wearily, dreading the answer. 

“Thor came storming in here, cleared everything of his out and blew back out without a word to any of us,” Hjert said worriedly. 

“Don’t worry about it. He’s just got a bug up his ass right now. He’ll work it out and in the meantime a little space is probably a good thing,” Loki assured them. 

“What happened?” Styrk asked confused. The last he knew Thor was taking a vacation with Michael. 

Loki considered what or how much he should tell them before he decided that it should be kept in confidence. Neither of them would likely take kindly to everyone knowing about the failed proposal and the backlash it caused. Unless Thor made so much of an issue that they really NEEDED to know, he would keep it to himself. “It’s not my place to say, and I wouldn’t suggest asking Thor anytime soon either. He’s gonna be more prickly than a porcupine with PMS until he pulls his head out of his ass.”


	18. Chapter 18

It was almost two weeks before any of them saw Thor again without him snapping at them. The only exception to that was Ben, and even then he wasn’t nearly as warm as he had been before. They were all sitting the common room of the suite, helping to explain some aspect of their history that Ben was having trouble grasping when the door opened and Thor came in. He shuffled a little nervously in the doorway for a moment before he said, “Loki, can I talk to you?” 

Loki nodded and got up, ruffling Ben’s hair as he followed Thor out and down the hall. They ended up in the common room of the suite that Thor had been using since his departure and Loki sat on the couch as Thor started to pace. “Loki, I’m…”

“You know how much it annoys me talking to you when you’re pacing,” Loki interrupted. He did let him get away with it fairly often, but he wasn’t in the mood this time. 

Thor sighed and plopped down on the couch next to Loki. “I’m sorry,” he continued. “The things I said to you…you didn’t deserve it. And attacking you like that…”

“I know you didn’t mean it,” Loki assured him. “I get where it was coming from.”

“That doesn’t make it right. You shouldn’t have had to put up with it,” Thor told him. 

“No, it doesn’t. And you’re right. I shouldn’t have. But someone had to. You know what you’re like when you get like that. Should I have let you run across Styrk in that condition and let you two kill each other when you set him off? Or maybe Hjert so you could break his heart? Or what about Ben…”

“I would never have hurt Ben. No matter how far gone I was,” Thor interrupted appalled that Loki would even think that. 

“But you have been hurting him,” Loki pointed out and that was why he was upset. Oh, he would forgive Thor. No doubt about it. He had stopped holding his temper against him a long time ago, but seeing the hurt in Ben’s eyes made him a little more willing to point out his flaws. “He idolizes you Thor, more than anyone else. You’re right that you haven’t been mean to him, but you have been ignoring him. You think that doesn’t hurt him? We’ve explained that you’re just upset about a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with him, but it still can’t make it go away. Not completely.”

Thor leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to will back the tears of guilt. “I’ll apologize to him too. And set aside a whole day for just the two of us to hang out,” Thor promised. “And I’ll apologize to our other brothers too, of course, but you…as much as you pretend that it doesn’t bother you, I know how much it hurt you when I all but disowned you. You say that you know I didn’t mean it, but I know that some part of you has doubts. I know I would, and I want to tell you, don’t.” He reached over and put a hand on Loki’s shoulder. “You are the best brother I could ever ask for, even when I don’t deserve it. In so many ways, you are the rock that holds this family together. Never doubt your place here or my love for you.” He pulled Loki against him into a hug that his little brother sank into in relief. 

“Thank you, Thor. It is nice to hear sometimes.” When Loki pulled back, he decided to address what got them here in the first place. “Speaking of love, are you ready to talk about that whole mess now?” 

Thor sighed. “I don’t know. I just…I don’t know what to think.”

“I get it, you know,” Loki told him sympathetically. “You’re afraid that you’re making another mistake. That you’re giving your love and loyalty to the wrong person, especially given the history with Michael. But Michael isn’t Skadi. He isn’t Var. He isn’t Hodr. If you need more time to come to terms with that, to settle your fears, then just tell him that. He will understand. You know he will. And you also know he’d happily wait for you forever if that’s what it took.”

“He’ll come to resent me eventually if I can’t give him what he wants. It will cause problems between us, and we’ll end up hating each other. I don’t know if I can live with him hating me,” Thor said sadly. 

“I don’t think you’re giving either of you enough credit. I can’t promise it won’t cause some problems, but it only has to tear you apart if you let it. How many times have we been through things that could have…maybe even SHOULD have…torn us apart, but we came through it stronger and better than before. Why? Because we cared enough to make it work.”

Thor put his head in his hands. “I am such an idiot,” he groaned. 

“No arguments there, big brother,” Loki teased. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael really did hate me now.”

“I would,” Loki said with a chuckle. “I would wager that if you sent him a message, he would drop everything and come running without a second thought.”

“Maybe,” Thor said with a distant smile. “But first I have some other things to fix here.”

“You want some help moving your stuff back?” Loki asked. 

“Not yet. I need to make a few more apologies before I’d be welcomed back,” Thor pointed out. 

Loki just shrugged. He kind of agreed, but he wasn’t going to be a brat and say so, so he just followed Thor back to the main suite and plopped back on the couch as he asked if he could talk to Ben. When Loki nodded that it would be okay, Ben got up and followed him out, taking his turn. When they came back, Ben had showed some signs of crying, but seemed quite happy, and gave Thor a huge hug before running into his room. Thor had asked him to give the adults a few minutes so he could apologize to them too. Once his apologies were done, and he had secured permission to spend Saturday just him and Ben, he headed downstairs to have Mattie send a message. He wasn’t about to give his apologies to Michael in such an impersonal way, so the message just asked Michael to meet him in the rose garden when he could. 

Once the message was send he headed out to the rose garden himself and found a bench to sit on as he thought about what he could possibly say to make this right. Loki had been right. He was afraid. He was afraid to get in too deep because he knew that this time…this time there would be no coming back from it. If he gave himself completely to Michael, losing him would destroy him for good. Would likely destroy both of them. 

After a while he got up and started to pace. He knew that walking around the garden would make it harder for Michael to find him, so he wanted to stay in one general spot. He wasn’t sure how long he would be waiting, but the longer he waited the more he worried that maybe Michael wouldn’t come. Maybe Loki was wrong about him forgiving so easily. Maybe he had decided that Thor wasn’t worth the trouble. The idea of giving up and going inside never even came up. 

Once he had his fill of pacing he sat back down again and put his head in his hands, hoping against hope that he hadn’t ruined everything forever. He wouldn’t give up though. COULDN’T give up. If it meant that he had to spent the next few centuries chasing Michael that’s what he would do, but he would fix this…somehow. He had to. He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid. No, he could believe it. He had a bad habit of it, really. This whole thing filled him with new resolve to correct that habit though. He got up and started pacing again as the sun started to set.


	19. Chapter 19

At one point during his pacing, Thor turned around and stopped in his tracks to see Michael standing there looking uncertain, and everything he had barely managed to plan to say just few right out of his head and he couldn’t help but just stare at him. “I’m sorry it took me so long. Anael and a group of her people arrived last week so we’ve been learning to work together and…well…sorry,” Michael said trailing off a bit, not sure why he was here or what kind of reception he would be getting. 

“I…” Thor started before sitting down and motioning Michael to sit as well. “It’s okay. Is everything going better now that they’re there?” he asked with a wince. This wasn’t what he called him here to talk about, but maybe if they work up to it?

“It is better, yes. Anael has many ideas on how to make a difference. A lot of them have already been implemented, but only time will tell. It just took me a little while to arrange for her to take command in my absence.”

Thor nodded and tried to work up his courage to say what he needed to say. “I…I’m sorry, Michael. I over-reacted and handled things badly. Worse than badly even. I just…I DO love you Michael. With all my heart. And I don’t want to lose you. I just don’t know if I can bond with you right now.”

“Or ever?” Michael asked hoping that statement was part of the overreaction. 

“I don’t know about NEVER,” Thor said with a sheepish look, remembering what he’d said before. “It’s just…I’ve made a lot of mistakes when it comes to relationships. I’ve trusted way too many people I shouldn’t have and that’s caused no end of trouble. Hell…once I nearly started a war because of it. With…with our past, I can’t help but be afraid that this is another mistake and I don’t know how to shake that. Taking such a permanent step…”

“I do understand that, Thor. Our past has always been an obstacle, and probably always will be to some degree. We’ve worked well on getting past it so far, and maybe I was wrong to ask. I thought we were farther past it than we seem to be, but that’s okay. I mean, yeah, it does hurt, but not nearly as much as losing you. I can wait, Thor. As long as it takes,” Michael assured him. 

“The thing that’s driving me the most crazy though, is that now I don’t even know. I mean, two weeks ago, I thought there was no way that I was possibly ready or would ever be, but now…I mean, am I just letting irrational fear control me? I do want forever with you, Michael. I really do…I just don’t know. Maybe I’m more ready than I think I am, I just can’t see past the fear. Maybe…”

“Don’t, Thor,” Michael stopped him. “Don’t push things. Especially not for my sake. Take your time. Take your time to figure it out. When you’re really ready you’ll know.” He took a chance and reached out his hand towards Thor who quickly took it and pulled him in for a desperate kiss which Michael sank into. He had realized that Thor rarely initiated a kiss between them so this was all the more special. 

When they broke for air, Thor whispered again, “I’m sorry.”

“You are forgiven,” Michael whispered back, resting his head in the crook of Thor’s neck. “Just don’t push me away again, please. Even if it means you yell at me, insult me, attack me, I don’t care. As long as we push forward and go through our problems instead of running away from them.”

“Okay,” Thor promised. “And if I ever do try to run, you have my permission to chase me…or hold me prisoner,” he added with a smile as he turned his head and kissed Michael again. “How long do you have?” Thor asked hopefully. 

“That’s why I arranged for Anael to cover for me,” Michael said with a grin. “Unless she summons me back for an emergency, I can stay a whole day. I don’t want to be gone much longer than that this first time, but if all goes well, I can start being here more often.”

“That sounds perfect,” Thor said happily, grabbing Michael and reappearing in his room in a gust of wind and not leaving it until mid-morning the next day. They ran across Loki wandering the library and stopped to chat for a while. 

“How are things in heaven?” he asked Michael curiously. 

“Getting better. Anael arrived last week with about twenty of her people and a whole lot of ideas. As you suggested, I’ve been training one of them up to be my secretary even.”

“What kind of ideas?” Loki asked curiously. 

“Well she pointed out that expanding the garden doesn’t do much good if everyone tends to avoid it, so instead she suggested adding trees and flowerbeds and shrubbery all throughout the area. Also adding more color to the buildings and structures rather than the dull grey. A few of her people are even working on getting a choir started again. I haven’t seen much change in attitudes yet, but it’s early still.” 

“That’s great. I’m glad things are looking up. And things are going well with her personally?” 

“There’s still a little hostility there. It will take time to build trust again, but nothing unmanageable. She’s just more distant than anything else. Cool, polite indifference. But it’s a starting point.”

“Yeah, once bridges have been burned, rebuilding them can be a bitch,” Loki told him, getting a nod in response. 

They joined the rest of the family for lunch, and Michael met Ben’s tutor, Vor and was quite impressed with her. Especially once someone let slip that she had been Thor’s tutor when he was a child and Michael suddenly a hundred questions about a young Thor and they all got a good kick out of the stories she told. Well, all except Thor who was too busy trying to hide his blush and resist the urge to slide under the table, which of course just amused everyone even more. 

After lunch, Thor and Michael went outside to take a walk around the gardens for a few hours before they had a private dinner, and said their very long goodbyes. Michael promised to try to make this a weekly thing if at all possible, which Thor was very much in favor of. 

The next day was Thor’s day out with Ben. He had considered taking him to the fairgrounds, but scratched that idea. It was not only a regular thing anyway, but wasn’t so great for bonding since it was so loud and crazy. He decided to take him for a day in the village; visit some shops, see a kids show, sample the restaurants, and mostly just talk and connect. He also decided to set up weekly times with Ben to work on his channeling of air, now that he had basic control down pat, so that was one of the things they discussed. 

They were quite surprised when they ran into Bobby and Freyja in the village. Apparently, she had been showing him around quite a bit lately and they ended up joining the couple for dinner. It turned out that Bobby had been mostly staying with Freyja for the last two weeks, and kept putting off going home. Thor was glad that things had been going well for them, but told Bobby they had missed him up at the castle. He blushed quite brightly and promised to come visit more. He told them he planned to go home tomorrow though. He had already been gone longer than he should have. 

They split up after dinner, Bobby and Freyja to go to their own show, and Thor and Ben back to the castle.


	20. Chapter 20

Bobby and Freyja appeared back in his study in a flash of fire mid-kiss. It didn’t last long though when Bobby’s danger sense kicked in and he spun and grabbed the shotgun he always had on the wall, only to find the barrel pressed into the chest of a shocked Rufus who was holding a stake as if ready to strike. “Put it down,” he growled and Rufus not sure what to do or what was going on here, did as the man with a gun said and just let it clatter to the ground. 

“This is your brother that needed your assistance?” Freyja asked having realized who this likely was. She had stepped back out of the line of fire, not wanting to harm a human and get in trouble if she could help it, but not willing to leave her soulmate to his own devices against a potential enemy either. 

“Yeah. It is,” Bobby said lowering the gun a fraction. 

“I will leave you to discuss things. You know how to reach me if you need me,” she said putting a hand on his shoulder before she disappeared. 

Once she was gone, Bobby relaxed and put the gun down and Rufus felt safe enough to say, “What the hell, Bobby?!”

“What the hell me? I thought you just needed a few days. What the hell are you still doing here?” 

“A day or two after you left, I caught wind of a possible hunt around here, so I went and did some checking. Apparently, some giant woman attacked a kid, dislocated his shoulder and sprained his wrist. Normally I would have just called it a fight and left it alone, but then it turned out she was seen with you and then I found your car abandoned, all your stuff still in it, so I’ve been trying to figure out what happened to you. I got shit all for clues, but I’ve had every hunter I could find with their ear to the ground.”

“Balls,” Bobby said whipping off his hat and slamming it on the table. He should have known better than to take off like that when Rufus was around. He should have just gone on his date and come back home that night. It was just so easy to get lost in his goddess that he decided to take a bit of a vacation. Not like he hadn’t earned it. He should have figured on Rufus digging his nose into Bobby’s business. He always had been good at that. 

“Your turn. What the hell was that and where have you been?” Rufus said looking at him suspiciously. 

“That was my girlfriend and we took a vacation,” Bobby said irritated despite knowing he was going to have to do better than that after getting caught in the act, so to speak, with a goddess. “Look, you’ve heard all the talk about the pagans not being bad guys I assume.”

“I’ve heard rumors, but Bobby, don’t tell me you believe that garbage?” Rufus said worriedly. “I thought I taught you better than that.”

“Believe them? Hell, I started them! I found out the truth. They all end up taking a bad rap because of a few crazies,” Bobby told him. 

“Look, Bobby, I know that’s what they want you to believe, but…”

“Did you know that there are over ten million gods living in Asgard? And that’s just ONE of their cities.”

“That’s impossible. We would be overrun…”

“If they wanted to, they absolutely could. They are a peaceful people. Kind and generous. Harming a human is against their highest law and those that do, if they escape us hunters, they quickly find themselves facing a fate worse than death before the pagan rulers. They despise the ones who make things harder for them.”

“How do you know…”

“Because I’ve seen it, you idjit. I’ve been to Asgard. Often. I’ve even seen one of their trials when a goddess went after humans.”

“You actually trust them?” Rufus asked incredulously. 

“I do,” Bobby said firmly. 

“Because of your girlfriend?” 

“No. She’s a rather recent change. I’ve been hanging around Asgard for years,” Bobby told him. 

“What’s her name?” Rufus asked suspiciously. 

“Freyja.” 

“The Valkyrie queen?! Of all the damn goddesses you could fall for you fall for the most bloodthirsty one of all?!”

“First of all, she’s not bloodthirsty. Secondly, she’s not a queen. She’s an Emira, which is kinda like an admiral. The Valkyrie are like a black ops unit within the Asgard military. Not crazed murderers.”

“And why do they have a military if they’re so peaceful?” Rufus asked trying to catch him in a lie. 

“Because they do have enemies. They may have driven the frost giants to extinction, but there are still harpies, siddhe, various other aggressive fae beings, imps, demons, angels, gremlins, dwarves, and all manner of other creatures that could be a threat to them. Humans are special to them. They consider us kind of like their children in a way. Half the battles they’ve been in during the last thousand years were to protect humanity against a full force moving against it. I could give you a whole history lesson on it, but I suspect you wouldn’t have the patience to listen anyway.”

“Fine. Then just name one enemy they supposedly protected us from,” Rufus said skeptically. 

“There was a large army of Fae about 700 years ago that decided to take over the earth. You notice that most seemingly legitimate references to fairies stopped about that time?” Rufus nodded. “The pagans routed their army and sealed them up into their home dimension to keep them from crossing over anymore.”

“And this Valkyrie unit?” Rufus asked still skeptically curious. 

“As Thor once told me, any ten Valkyrie could decimate any fifty normal soldiers without breaking a sweat.”

“And you don’t see them as a threat?!” Rufus asked incredulously. 

“Not to humans, no. To their enemies, damn straight they’re a threat.”

“And if humans become their enemies?” Rufus asked pointedly. 

“They won’t. We’re their children remember? They would never stand against us.”

“Some do,” Rufus tried to make him see. 

“Any society has a few abusive parents in the mix,” Bobby said dismissively. 

“Fine. Take me there and let me see for myself,” Rufus decided. He was going to find some evidence to pull Bobby out of this if it was the last thing he did. Even if he couldn’t, he could still do some recon and see how screwed they were. 

“I can’t do that,” Bobby told him. “My way there only works for me,” he said, unconsciously touching his pendant as he spoke of it and Rufus’ eyes narrowed slightly as he figured out Bobby’s way. “As much as they love humans, we aren’t usually permitted in their cities. I just got an exemption.”

“Then get me one,” Rufus said.

“I’ll try,” Bobby told him. He doubted it would work, but he would ask. “Now if I go to bed, do I have to worry about being killed in my sleep?”

“Aw, hell, Bobby. You know if I intended to kill you I’d do it to your face,” Rufus said insulted that Bobby would even think such a thing. 

“Good. Then I’m going to bed. And you can call off the search. Just tell them I went on a damn vacation and your paranoia had you jumping at shadows,” Bobby ordered heading upstairs. He knew that wasn’t the story that Rufus would spread, but wasn’t sure what he would say. He hoped that his connection with Asgard would stay secret, but he supposed it wouldn’t be the end of the world if that got out. He would always have a home there anyway if he had to abandon this one, and with the new developments with Freyja he was considering going that way anyway. Only the fact that he could do so much good for them here, had him sticking around. Maybe he could get them to accept Rufus or even someone else in his place as go-between with the humans. 

Rufus made a few phone calls and put out the word that Bobby was found and fine, but didn’t tell anyone more than that just yet. He needed some time to figure out how serious this whole thing was before he called in the calvary. With that on his mind, he waited until about an hour after Bobby went to sleep, knowing from long experience of many years on the road that was when he slept deepest, and crept up the stairs. He stepped up to Bobby’s bed and very carefully, without touching him at all, removed the pendant from around his neck and crept back downstairs. 

Once he got back to the desk he started turning it over in his hands as he examined it. “Ok you little piece of junk. How are you going to take me to Asgard?” he asked only to suddenly find himself sitting on a stone floor, surrounded by three stone walls and one with bars as a siren blared, assaulting his ears. “Well, shit,” he said dejectedly, realizing he’d just completely screwed up.


	21. Chapter 21

Rufus had been there for less than a minute when he heard thunderous footsteps coming down the stairs. “Who are you and how did you get here?” The large man asked, grey eyes flashing with anger, which turned to alarm as his eyes lit on the pendant that Rufus was still holding in his hands. Before Rufus could even decide what, if anything to say, the man had bellowed, “Guards!” and three people seemed to materialize directly in front of him. 

“Yes, my king,” they bowed. 

He turned to the first and ordered, “Summon the other kings and have the young prince moved down to the safe room along with Prita.” He turned to the next. “Take a unit to Bobby Singer’s house and check on him. Should you meet resistance, disable only.” Then the third. “Summon all of the wardmasters to monitor the wards and be ready to reinforce them at a moment’s notice.” Thor wasn’t sure exactly what was going on here, but worst case scenario, this human had attacked Bobby, stolen his necklace and now was here as a preface to some sort of attack. He knew quite a bit about human weaponry and if he was carrying some kind of tracker that could go through their wards, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that one of their explosive devices could be on the way or an army could be marching on the gates any time. Honestly, it wasn’t the most likely possibility, but he couldn’t take the chance. It was his job to be prepared for the worst. 

“Hold on just a minute…” Rufus started to say before he was interrupted. 

“What did you do with Bobby Singer? What is your plan here?” Thor asked dangerously as another group of footsteps began descending the stairs. 

Once they came in sight, Rufus’ eyes went wide and he couldn’t help but gasp. “Sam? Dean? What the hell?”

“Rufus?!” they exclaimed as one. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Styrk asked heatedly. 

“I just…well…” he started sheepishly, but Thor banged on the bars, not in the mood for this. 

“Talk!” the thunder god ordered. 

“Okay, fine. I caught Bobby coming home with his girlfriend and he told me about this place, so I waited until he went to sleep and took the pendant and used it to come here to see for myself,” Rufus said quickly. 

“My lords,” one of the guards rushed back to them. “We have secured Bobby Singer. He is uninjured.”

“It wasn’t Bobby’s fault. Don’t take it out on him,” Rufus felt the need to tell them. 

“Take it out on him? Why would we take anything out on him? We were simply concerned about his well-being, knowing that he would not willingly give up the key to the castle,” Thor told him.

“He is requesting to join you in your interrogation, my lords,” the guard continued. 

The brothers all looked back and forth to each other and came to a silent agreement. “Give us five minutes and then send him down,” Hjert told him, and the guard bowed and then melted into the shadows to carry out his orders. 

“Now, before Bobby gets here, we need to be sure this isn’t a preamble to some sort of attack on us. Are you carrying any sort of tracking device or recording device and is there anyone else following you?” Loki asked. 

“No, no, and no. What are Sam and Dean doing here?” Rufus countered with his own question. 

“He’s telling the truth,” Loki told his brothers, knowing that they could sense it too, but his senses were a little more exact than theirs were so they would want to hear it from them anyway. 

Thor nodded and turned to the nearby guard. “Stand down the alert, but keep the remainder of the royal family in the private sections of the castle for the time being.”

With that Hjert and Styrk turned back to Rufus. Keeping their identities secret didn’t matter so much anymore. The angels weren’t searching for them and they didn’t spend much, if any, time among humans either so there wasn’t that much of a reason to keep it secret. “We were adopted by King Odin before his death. I’m Styrk and this is Hjert,” Styrk told him. 

“What’s going to happen to me?” he asked worriedly, hoping that at least he could trust them. 

“We don’t know yet,” Hjert said. 

About that time, Bobby came down the stairs. “You damn fool!” he said angrily at Rufus. “What the hell did you think you were doing?! And give me back my pendant!”

Rufus put it in his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me Sam and Dean were here?” Rufus countered, dealing with Bobby’s anger much easier than the others. 

“Because it was none of your damn business! When are you going to learn to keep your nose out of things that don’t concern you?” 

“Probably never,” Rufus said with a shrug. “Now get them to let me go please?” he asked hopefully. 

“Not gonna happen. They can keep you as long as they see fit,” Bobby told him. “In the meantime, I’m going back to bed.” He knew that Rufus wouldn’t be harmed. The main decision would be how much of his memory to leave intact and when and where to release him, and he knew it would take a few days for them to make that decision. Maybe once he had a good night’s sleep he would relay Rufus’ request to see the city. 

Once he’d gone back upstairs, Thor turned to the guards. “Have these cells been tested against humans?” he asked curiously, knowing that they blocked powers but not sure how well they would hold against someone with no powers. 

“They have not my lord. We never anticipated keeping human prisoners,” he said apologetically. 

“No matter. That just means that someone will have to keep watch on him at all times,” Loki told them. He knew better than most how crafty hunters could be. If anyone could find a way to escape it would be a hunter. Not that he would get far of course, but that wasn’t the point.

“Understood, my lord,” the guard bowed and moved to stand at attention against the wall opposite the cell, not taking his eyes off the prisoner. 

“And you,” Styrk said irritated. “We’ll deal with you tomorrow. You might want to get some rest.”

“Where?” Rufus asked incredulously gesturing at the bare cell. 

“Loki?” Hjert asked with a sigh. 

Loki rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers and a bed grew out of the wall with a thin mattress and a thick blanket and a toilet rose out of the floor. “See to it that he is fed every eight hours as well,” he reminded the guard, knowing that they didn’t usually feed prisoners because prisoners didn’t usually need to be fed. That done, they headed back upstairs to figure out what to do with their uninvited guest. 

They got back to the suite to find Ben waiting up tiredly for them. “What happened?” he asked worriedly. 

“We’ll tell you all about it in the morning. It was mostly a misunderstanding,” Styrk told him and Cas together. Since Cas was essentially human, he had been ushered off with Ben and Prita. “You should both get back to bed.”

Ben nodded mid-yawn and shuffled back to his room while Cas leaned over for a kiss before doing the same. “So, what do we do about Rufus?” Hjert asked. 

“I say we table the discussion for now, and talk to Bobby tomorrow. I think we need a better idea of the overall picture before we can decide anything,” Loki suggested and the others had to agree. 

When morning came, they explained the situation, or at least what they knew of it so far, to Cas and Ben, including why Thor had raised the alert. As annoyed as they were at being roused from their sleep, they didn’t understand that he couldn’t take chances. If he had failed to act and Rufus had been carrying a homing device for a bomb or worse, a bomb or some type of airborne poison, or any of a dozen other possibilities, they would have been in big trouble if he hadn’t done what he had. 

It was nearly mid-morning and Ben was already in his lessons when Bobby woke up, having decided to just sleep in the castle rather than go back home again, and found all five of the kings in the library. Now that he was rested and not quite as pissed, he tried a little harder to explain Rufus’ actions and relayed his request. He pointed out that Rufus had more ins amongst the hardliners in the hunter community and if they could convince him, then they could make a lot of progress among the most stubborn and closed-minded groups. 

They promised to think about it, so Bobby headed home. It wouldn’t do any good to draw any more suspicions than they already had by being out of contact too long after he just got back from being supposedly kidnapped. 

They discussed it amongst themselves for the rest of the day, and even looped Ben in on the discussion during lunch, wanting him to get practice dealing with such matters. Ben’s take was pretty much what they had decided on as well. “If he can help us, then we might as well give it a shot. We just have to make sure to keep everyone else safe in the meantime.” He was much more trusting than they could afford to be, but in the end, they decided that he was right. There was no need to make it easy for the old man though. He could stew on it for a little while longer. 

Hjert did go down to check on him later though, nodding to the guard who was still watching him like a hawk and he could tell that it was driving Rufus to distraction. “Sam! You have to get me out of here, kid.”

“I can’t do that Rufus. I’m a king here. Do you have any idea what you’ve done here? What do you think would have happened if you had stolen someone’s credentials and broke into Buckingham palace in the dead of the night?”

“I would have been shot on sight,” Rufus admitted finally realizing the depth of his error. 

“Exactly. It may please you to know that execution has never been an option in your case, but that doesn’t mean I can just let you go either,” he pointed out. 

“So, torture then?” Rufus asked hopelessly.

“Jesus, Rufus. What do you think we are? Of course, we’re not gonna torture you!”

“Then what? What are you going to do with me?” he asked desperately. Being locked in this little box was bad enough, but having this thing staring at him constantly was pushing him over the edge. He did remind himself that it was only necessary because they had never kept human prisoners, and that did make him feel a little better, but it was still creepy as hell. 

“Right now, we are going to let you sit here and think about what you’ve done,” Hjert said, lips twitching as he realized how much he sounded like a parent of an unruly child. 

“Fine. But can you at least get that guy to stop staring at me. It’s creeping me out,” Rufus begged. 

“Will you give me your word that you won’t even try to escape?” Sam asked having a little sympathy for the man who looked like he hadn’t even managed to get any sleep. 

“I swear,” he said quickly. “I won’t escape. I won’t even try to.”

Hjert turned to the guard and said, “You can return to your regular duties, but check on him every half hour.”

“Yes, my lord,” the guard said with a bow as he melted back into the shadows.

“Other than that, you have been treated well?” he asked. 

“Yeah. They’ve been feeding me and everything. Gotta say, the food is really good here at least,” Rufus admitted. 

“Good. We will see you tomorrow,” Hjert said as he headed back out. 

“Sam, wait!” Rufus called and when he turned around Rufus asked. “How did you get involved in all this? What’s going on here?” 

Hjert sighed heavily. Since they had pretty much decided on bringing him in, there was no reason not to give him the cliff notes version. “Dean and I were being manipulated into starting the apocalypse by both demons and angels. Loki stepped in to help us stop it, but after fighting an uphill battle for about a year and a half, we realized that the only way to get them off our trails was to make our souls unrecognizable, so after laying out the options we came to a decision. He brought us before the King of Asgard and petitioned for us to become one of them which would weave our pagan selves around our existing soul so no one would recognize us. Obviously, he accepted, and here we are.” When Rufus didn’t ask any other questions, Hjert continued up the stairs.


	22. Chapter 22

The next morning after they had breakfast and Ben started his lessons, Styrk came down the stairs to the dungeons with Bobby. He had spent most of the afternoon and evening yesterday straightening out the mess that Rufus had left back in the human world. Now he would end up spending today straightening out the older man’s mess here. They had decided that it would be just the two of them escorting Rufus so as not to draw too much attention and they all trusted Styrk and Bobby to keep him in line. “Bobby! Dean!” Rufus said happily when they came down. “Are you here to let me out now?” he asked hopefully. 

“I’m Styrk now,” Dean told him. “And that depends on you. Bobby relayed your request to see some of Asgard and see for yourself that we are a peaceful people, so we have decided to give you that chance, but only if you give us your word that you will not harm anyone.”

“Unless it’s self-defense,” Rufus countered. 

“Should it be needed, I will defend you. You will keep your hands to yourself,” Styrk said firmly. 

“Fine. You give me your word on that and I’ll give you mine,” Rufus said grumbling about not needing someone else to protect him. The promises were exchanged and, after Rufus was searched for any stakes or other weapons, the three of them walked out of the dungeons. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Styrk grabbed them both and flashed them out to the public entrance of the fairgrounds. Bobby had been expecting it, but Rufus found himself off balance when they landed and then gaped as he looked around, completely lost for words. 

As Bobby and Styrk led him through the gates, they were soon set upon by Gyda. “Hi King Styrk. Mr. Bobby. Where’s Ben?”

“He’s doing his lessons,” Styrk told her. “And why aren’t you in school?” 

“Today is a work study day. I’m shadowing my mom,” she told them. 

“Oh, that’s right. You started your intermediate classes this month didn’t you,” Styrk asked giving her a proud smile. There were three levels of classes in Asgard; Basic, averaging from age five to ten, intermediate from ten to thirteen or fourteen, and advanced until sixteen or seventeen. Ben was working his way through what he had missed in the basic classes and hoped to join the intermediate classes next semester. Intermediate classes got one day of work study per week. Advanced got two. Ben would likely graduate a year or two later than usual, but it was better than sticking him all the way back to the beginning. 

“Yup!” she said happily. “You brought another human. Is he safe?” she whispered, cutting her eyes to him nervously. 

Of course, like all children everywhere, her whisper was plenty loud enough for them all to hear and Rufus asked incredulously, “SHE’S scared of ME?!” This thing could wipe him out where he stood and she was actually acting like she was scared of him. 

“Well you are a human,” she said imperiously. “We learned in school about how humans have a tendency to hate anything different from them and their adversarial natures make it difficult for them to understand that other beings are not so and they will attack anything that seems like it could be a threat to them, whether they are actually being threatened or not.”

Styrk snorted in amusement. She really had come a long way from the little girl who cowered away from Bobby and looked to Thor to protect her. And she hit the nail right on the head in such a way that Rufus couldn’t possibly attack anyone now without proving the worst about humans. “I bet you’re the top of your inter-species relations class,” he couldn’t help but say. 

“Yup,” she said proudly. “I’m hoping to join the diplomatic corps when I grow up.”

“You are?” he asked with a grin. “Well I think you would do a great job. I’ll tell you what. How about we deputize you for the day and you can do our work study with us, teaching a human about our culture.” If she could cut to the heart of the matter like that, and shame him into behaving with an off-hand comment, he couldn’t wait to see what she could do when she was trying. 

“Really? Could I?” she asked bouncing excitedly. When he nodded she almost squealed. “Let me just go tell my mom!”

When she rushed off, Bobby turned to Rufus and hissed, “You hurt that little girl in any way, I will kill you where you stand. Understood?” 

Rufus could tell by the tone of Bobby’s voice that it was a promise and he just nodded. It wasn’t like he would get far if he wanted to hurt her anyway. Once she returned, Bobby and Styrk were essentiallly relegated to guards for the remainder of the day as Gyda took complete control of the situation. “These are the fairgrounds. It’s kind of like a giant play area for grown-ups and kids. It’s designed so that we can learn and have fun at the same time.” She stopped them to watch one of the street performers, this time one working with water skills. “Here, not only is the show really cool and a lot of fun, but we get some idea of what we can do if we have skills with the water element.” She giggled as she was surrounded by a corkscrew of water flowing up before it splashed into individual drops above her head and danced in the light throwing rainbows around them. 

After a few minutes, they moved on and she showed Rufus some of the different booths and how the games worked, sampled some of the different foods and drinks, and saw a few more performers before they got to the area with the obstacle courses and she explained their purpose. In between, she answered questions about their culture and beliefs and asked a few about humans. When they got to the area where the obstacle courses ran, she explained what they were and asked if Rufus wanted to sit and watch for a while. He just shrugged so they headed up into the stands. 

“What else do you learn about humans in school?” Rufus asked after a few minutes. 

“Well in the intermediate classes, we mostly just learn the basics of their different cultures. I hear the advanced classes get lessons on how to avoid them and how to get away if they’re attacked without hurting anyone. Apparently, humans can be pretty fragile and easy to hurt if we’re not really careful. I guess that’s why they hate us so much,” she added sadly. 

Even Rufus’ cold heart melted at that. This cute little girl had been working on it all day, but finally succeeded with that simple statement. “Humans are mostly just afraid of you,” he admitted. “And we do tend to hate what we’re afraid of just because we hate being afraid.” He wasn’t going to lie to her, but he did want to help her feel better and he hoped that would do it. 

She nodded. “I hate being afraid too. I think everyone does. But it’s not our fault you’re afraid of us,” she pointed out. 

“No. It’s not,” Rufus told her and wasn’t sure what else he could say to help her and so returned to watching the obstacle courses for a while longer before they moved on. 

When they reached a large closed in area at the back, she told him, “That’s the arena. Kids aren’t allowed in there until they graduate to the advanced classes.”

“That’s like high school,” Styrk explained as a reference. 

“Do humans have any sports based on fighting?” she asked curiously. 

“Sure, we do. There are all different types of martial arts, boxing, MMA, wrestling…and none of that means anything to you does it,” Rufus finished with a chuckle. 

She shook her head with a patient smile, but continued with her explanation anyway. “Well that’s where we have our fighting sports. People rarely get hurt at all, but if they do they just heal each other.” 

Styrk realized the time and knew that she had put in more than enough time for her work study and decided it might be nice to show Rufus how non-barbaric pagan sports were, especially when compared to their human counterparts. “Thank you, Gyda. You’ve been a wonderful help today,” he told her. 

She recognized the dismissal and guessed they were gonna go in and watch the fights. “You’re welcome, my lord,” she said with a graceful curtsy. “Can you sign my slip?” she asked, handing him the parchment that verified that she had done her work study with him and he signed it with a smile, writing in ‘diplomatic relations’ in the work field slot. 

Once she had bounded off back to her mother, Rufus said, “She’s a cute kid.”

“She is. She’s a good friend of the family, and my son’s best friend,” Styrk told him. “Shall we?” he asked motioning to the arena. 

Rufus shrugged and headed in. If he was going to find anything to prove to him that these people weren’t on the up it would probably be here, but he was sorely disappointed. Not with the show. That part was incredible, but he’d seen more brutality at a high school boxing match. It seemed more like exercises than fights. Sure, half the things they got hit with would have killed a human on the spot, but they just jumped back up like they hadn’t been phased at all. He did see someone get hurt once. He’d been flipped over his opponent’s shoulder and his arm was hanging limply at his side and his jaw dropped as the fight actually stopped and the opponent walked over and put his hand on the guy’s shoulder before a bright light shone from it and the arm was as good as new. After a short conversation, with the previously injured guy nodding, they took their places and resumed the match. 

“Is it always like that?” Rufus asked shaking his head as they were leaving a few hours later. 

“Sure. The only ‘real’ violence here is during the military training, and even then, it’s probably a lot less than you’re used to. We ‘fight’ to exercise our powers and learn to use them in different ways. Same way we use the obstacle courses,” Styrk explained as they stopped by one of the actual restaurants bordering the fairgrounds.

“Can I get some whiskey here?” Rufus asked hopefully as they sat down and started looking at the menu. 

Bobby smirked, glad that someone else got to share his injustice. “You can get a kid’s ale or a kid’s meade. The ale is kinda like beer and the meade is more like liquor,” Bobby told him. 

“I ain’t getting no kids drink,” Rufus said indignantly. 

“Then you can’t have any alcohol,” Bobby said with a chuckle. The stuff gods drink would kill you and me. Trust me. The kid’s drinks are as strong as anything you’ve ever had. Maybe even stronger.”

Rufus grumbled but finally agreed to have a kid’s meade. When Styrk started to order a black meade, Bobby said, “The hell you are.” 

“Why not?” Styrk asked petulantly. 

“Not unless you plan to call one of your brothers to give us a lift back. Ain’t no way I’m riding with you if you have one o’ them.”

“Why…” Rufus asked. 

“Styrk here is a fire element. When he gets tipsy he tends to set things…and people…on fire during transport,” Bobby told his old friend. 

“Fine. I’ll get you another ride,” Styrk agreed with a pout. After as tense as he’d been all day, he really needed a drink. 

Hjert arrived to take them back once they finished eating, and as usual, Styrk wanted to take himself, so Hjert just took the two humans. Sure enough, when Styrk arrived he was on fire and Hjert just rolled his eyes and shot a jet of water at him to put him out. Rufus was laughing hysterically at the sight before he turned to Bobby and said, “Good call.”


	23. Chapter 23

Needless to say, Rufus was convinced of the general goodness of the pagan peoples and promised to spread the word as convincingly as he could. It was made clear to him though that no other humans would gain entrance into Asgard, so he should probably avoid telling anyone that he had been there too so there weren’t a lot of requests. Now that he was on board with that idea, Bobby approached him about his other idea. Bobby wanted to retire completely and move to Asgard to be with Freyja, and since Rufus was more or less retired from hunting anyway, he wanted Rufus to take over the hotline. Rufus ended up bargaining for the whole salvage yard in the process, arguing that if Bobby wasn’t going to be living there, someone might as well. It would be better than his dump at least. 

Bobby agreed with the provision that it would stay in his name, and he would be welcome there any time he wanted to spend some time in the human world, and it was settled. Rufus would become the new contact between the pagans and the hunters, but Rufus wouldn’t have free run of the castle like Bobby did. He would go through Bobby with information and could meet with the kings if necessary. Bobby had been family from the start and it had taken years before he was able to wander the castle alone, and only recently had he been given the freedom to explore Asgard without an escort. None of them anticipated Rufus ever reaching that point. 

The next few months, everything went rather smoothly. Bobby and Freyja had gotten much closer. At first, when Bobby moved to Asgard, he stayed partially in his suite in the castle, though Freyja was a regular visitor, but he spent a great deal of time at her home too, and gradually he ended up living there with her. The enchanters had created a new pendant for him that would him to a variety of placed depending on what he asked it for, including the fairgrounds, the castle, and a central point in each of the villages. It really was the only way to get around other than asking for rides all the time like the younger children. 

Thor and Michael had found themselves getting closer and Anael ended up working out so well, that they managed to work out a system where he would get one day a week to spend in Asgard and then a whole week out of each month and she would get another week out of each month to spend in the free angel community. There had been some talk about bringing the rest of them home, but they weren’t quite ready to commit to it yet and Michael saw no need to press the matter. The random attacks on the free angels in heaven had stopped pretty quickly once Michael put his foot down on the matter and dealt with the offenders seriously. It was hard to be angry with people who gave nothing but love to all though and slowly hearts and minds were changing. Slower than Michael liked, but at least progress was being made, though there were some that he doubted would ever change their ways. As long as they kept the peace though, he could live with that. 

They had offered Cas the opportunity to become a pagan as well, but the ex-angel had declined. He still held out hope that his father would return one day and give him his grace back and if he became a pagan that could never happen. He loved the pagans and thought of them as his people too, but in his heart, he would always be an angel and he had to hold onto the possibility of getting that back someday. Even if it took forever. The others accepted that, but told him that if he ever changed his mind to let them know and they would make it happen. 

Ben was doing very well on catching up in his studies. He put in a lot more work than any of them ever thought he would and the one on one instruction helped it to go much quicker than it would in a classroom. There was a brief consideration of letting him continue with the tutoring instead of going to school, but Ben didn’t like that idea and after discussing it, Styrk and Cas agreed that the social skills and interaction was worth the drop in learning speed. After all, kids needed the chance to be kids. Even princes, so Ben would be starting the intermediate classes at the start of the next semester. He would still be a bit behind, since at his age he should be near the end of the intermediate classes, but he didn’t mind. What was an extra year or two when you had forever after all. 

Loki and Hjert were anxiously awaiting the time they could announce Prita’s pregnancy to the rest of the castle and when that day finally came, Hjert decided to just call for a feast and announce it there. All of the council and the castle staff were in attendance when the kings made their entrance. They had scheduled it for a day when Michael could be there, so Thor and Michael came in first, followed by Styrk and Cas, with Ben between them, and then the sight that made everyone gasp as they started to have their suspicions about the cause of the feast. Loki and Hjert came in, Prita between them and wearing a dress that accentuated the very slight baby bump that she was sporting. The escorted her to the table and sat her between them there as well as they looked over the assembled staff. 

“King Loki and I have an announcement to make,” Hjert said with a happy grin. “We have decided to have a child and Prita was kind enough to agree to carry him or her for us.” A loud cheer rang out over the long table and the feast took on an even more celebratory air than usual. Once it was over, Prita’s belongings had been moved upstairs to the suite next to the kings’ expanded suite. She had been offered a room with them, but preferred to keep a bit of her independence. She was also assigned her own assistant, who wouldn’t be needed much at the moment, but as she got farther along would become more essential. 

It was only a week later before Freyja stayed back after a court session and went before the kings. “Could I speak with you on a private matter?” she asked hopefully. 

They all looked at each other and nodded so they led her back to their public study and they all sat. “I was considering speaking to Bobby about bonding and was hoping to get your blessing,” she said quickly and more than a little nervously. Usually bonding wasn’t something that anyone else was involved in, but given the fact that Bobby was a human and considered family by her kings, she felt it would be appropriate to get their blessing first. 

“You have it,” Hjert said immediately with a grin. 

“Most definitely,” Styrk added. 

“Will he be wanting to undergo the trials and become one of us?” Thor asked, not entirely sure if that would be a good idea. Sure he was the one responsible for the slight increase in power they’d had recently, but power was still rather scarce. 

“That would be unlikely. I believe he enjoys being contrary,” Freyja said with a fond smile. 

They all chuckled at that. “That sounds about right,” Loki said as the others nodded knowingly. They got word two days later that the two of them had completed their bond. 

When Thor next saw Bobby, he asked him for a private conversation which the not so old anymore man agreed to. “I was wondering…when Freyja asked you to bond with her…weren’t you afraid you were making a mistake?” He wasn’t sure why he felt more comfortable asking Bobby about this than his brothers. Perhaps since they all had a personal stake in his relationship. Either way, he could think of no one better to discuss this with than Bobby. 

“Course I was. Anyone would be with that kind of decision to make. Thing is though, she’s my soulmate. If I can’t make it work with her then there’s no hope for me,” Bobby replied. 

Thor nodded thoughtfully. He’d never really thought of it like that. “Thank you, Bobby,” he said absentmindedly as he was lost in thought and Bobby just gave him a knowing smile and patted him on the shoulder as he headed out.


	24. Chapter 24

Loki cornered Thor a few days later. He’d noticed how distracted his brother had been lately and he intended to address that as well, but first he had something else to discuss with him. “I wanted to talk to you about Hjert’s and my baby.”

“What about it?” Thor asked curiously. There had been little else talked about in the castle in the two weeks since it was announced. 

“Well we were talking about names, and I was thinking of naming him or her after Father, but I thought you should have first choice for that honor if you want it,” Loki told him. 

Thor smiled lovingly at his brother. He was touched that Loki had thought of him, but he had a different opinion on the matter. “We can all honor him in different ways with our names for our children, but I think it only fitting that as the first child born to one of us, your child should be the namesake if you so choose.” 

“Are you sure, brother? You are his only natural born son,” Loki pointed out. 

“That doesn’t make you…or Hjert, or Styrk…any less his sons. He loved us all equally. He saw no difference between us and neither do I. You call your child whatever you wish, and I would love to have my niece or nephew named in honor of our father,” Thor said kissing Loki’s forehead and pulling him into a warm hug. 

“Thank you, Thor,” Loki said swallowing around the lump in his throat as he hugged his brother back. When he pulled back, he asked, “So what’s had you so distracted lately?” 

“I’m going to bond with Michael…assuming he still wants it that is.”

“Really!?” Loki exclaimed bouncing on his feet as his hands clutched his brother’s arms. Thor couldn’t help but chuckle at Loki’s excitement as he nodded and Loki’s bouncing took on new vigor as he pulled Thor into a tight hug and bounced him around with him. “That’s great! I’m so happy for you!” Then he remembered the second part of Thor’s statement. “I’m sure he still wants to, you big dummy,” he added without missing a beat in his bouncing. 

Once the bouncing had stopped and Thor had extricated himself from his brother’s enthusiasm, Loki asked, “Do you want to use my house? Take a nice long honeymoon?” 

“That would be great. Would you mind?” Thor asked hopefully. 

“Not at all. I’ll go set the wards to allow Michael to bring you in,” Loki promised and then headed off to do just that, and Thor wandered off even more distracted than he had been before. Saying it out loud just made it seem even more real. He was still afraid, but apparently, he always would be. Bobby’s words about soulmates had really struck him though. Michael was it for him. Had been since the moment they met. This was right. He was ready. Michael would be by tomorrow night and they would talk then. 

It seemed like forever before that time came, and when Michael showed up in their room, Thor immediately had him pressed against the wall, kissing him senseless. When they broke for air, Michael had a goofy grin on his face. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” he asked amusedly. It had been a long time since Thor had been quite that eager to see him. 

“How about we head to Loki’s house for a little vacation?” Thor suggested. 

Michael leaned forward and kissed Thor lightly. “Of course. You know I’m always up for more time with you. Any particular reason though?” 

“We’ll talk there,” Thor told him and Michael just nodded and flew them there, having noticed that Loki had opened up ward access to him again.

Once they were there, Thor kissed him deeply again as he tried to get up the nerve to say what he wanted to say. When he pulled back, he didn’t go far as he just rested his forehead against Michael’s and whispered, “Bond with me?” 

Michael sucked in a sharp breath before surging forward and capturing his lover’s lips once more. “Are you sure?” he asked hopefully. 

“Yes,” Thor said with a gentle smile. 

“Then, yes. I’ll bond with you,” Michael said, picking Thor up and swinging him around gleefully. “Now?” he asked and Thor nodded. 

They quickly stripped each other out of their shirts and placed their hands over each other’s hearts. Thor nodded that Michael should start and the archangel blinked the tears of joy out of his eyes as he spoke clearly and earnestly. “I, Michael of heaven, give myself to you, Thor of the house of Odin. Body and Mind. Heart and Life. I am yours for as long as we exist.” 

Thor took a deep breath against the overwhelming feeling of completeness spreading through him and didn’t even bother trying to hold back the tears that escaped as he said strong and sure, “I, Thor of the house of Odin, give myself to you, Michael of heaven. Body and Mind. Heart and Life. I am yours for as long as we exist.”

Michael choked back the near sob that pulled from him as Thor finished the words that would bind them forever. He slid his hand up to Thor’s neck, revealing the Enochian sigil that represented his name to match the norse rune he now held with Thor’s name, and he pulled his new husband down into a loving kiss that took both of their breath away. They could never have imagined such an intense feeling of joy and love and harmony. It was so completely overwhelming but in the best possible way. Neither of them ever wanted it to end. 

Eventually, Thor’s hands moved down to Michael’s pants and he began undoing the archangel’s pants, and he took the hint to do the same. Once they had removed the last of their clothing, Thor lifted Michael so that the archangel’s legs wrapped around his waist, rubbing their aching erections together as they tumbled into bed. Thor finally managed to drag his lips away from Michael’s and moved them to his lover’s neck, kissing and sucking and nibbling the soft skin there even as his hand moved down and spread the legs beneath him. 

Michael had one hand running through Thor’s thick hair and the other tracing the lines of his chest and shoulders as he felt Thor’s long finger breech his entrance and he moaned, arching his back off the bed and reaching down to wrap both of their cocks in his hand and began to stroke them slowly, pulling a guttural moan from the thunder god as well as his finger began moving faster in and out of the archangel. 

Thor shifted so that he was resting on his elbow and his free hand was running through Michael’s hair and over his face as he kissed him again, soft and short and sweet. “I love you, Michael,” he whispered reverently as he pressed a second finger into the archangel and began to scissor them open. 

“I love you, Thor. Forever,” Michael whispered back, just as in awe as the feelings between them continued to build and the bright light shining in the room got even brighter blinding them to everything except each other. When Michael was ready, Thor shifted again so that his aching cock was pressed against Michael’s tight hold and he slid himself in slowly, gasping as the feelings generated by the bond built even higher. He captured the archangel’s lips with his own once more as he was fully seated and began the slow draw of his hips as they both tried to drag this out as long as possible. Neither of them ever wanted to let go of this feeling. 

They continued to kiss and caress each other lovingly even as Thor couldn’t help but pick up the pace a bit. They weren’t sure how long it had been, but they were both having trouble holding back any longer and Thor reached down and began stroking Michael as he was pounding into him and when he felt Michael spill over his hand with a loud cry, he joined in with his own cry as he spilled himself inside his angel. After a long moment, they were both spent and the awareness of the rest of the world was slowly coming back to them as the light faded, but Thor didn’t move off of Michael. He just lay there, his forehead pressed against his husband’s as his fingers gently carded through the dark locks. Neither of them spoke. They didn’t need to. The beating of their hearts said all there was to say. Finally, Thor pulled his softening cock out and lay down next to his bonded and they held each other long into the night, tracing fingers over each other’s new markings more than once. 

They spent a whole month there. Outside of time. Outside of any responsibilities or duties to their people. Outside of anything else, except the two of them. That was all they wanted right now, and all they needed. Michael resolved himself to find the time to build his own little interdimensional hideaway like this and bring himself and Thor here at least once a year. Perhaps he could surprise him with it for their first anniversary.


	25. Chapter 25

When Thor and Michael returned that same night, though a month had passed for them, they hunted down their brothers to give them the news. This time they were both treated to the bouncy Loki, and Thor was glad that he had someone to share it with this time since it invariably meant less overall bouncing for him. Everyone laughed at the little pagan archangel’s enthusiasm even as the rest of them offered their congratulations a little less boisterously. The next day, Thor called the council together in the afternoon so they could ‘crown’ Michael. It didn’t require nearly as much hoopla since Michael was a simple consort. Not even a king consort since he was a ruler in his own right. He would now wear a gold circlet within Asgard to denote his status though. 

Now that they were bonded, Thor was able to gain entrance into heaven as well, and went with Michael the next day to be introduced as his mate to the people of heaven. Thor was given an exceptionally warm welcome by the free angels, even being grabbed in a tight hug by Anael, but with few exceptions, most of the people treated him with a distant, polite respect. It was better than either of them had expected though, so they considered a win. After that point, Thor spent his day off in heaven, while Michael continued spending his day per week and week per month in Asgard. 

Four months after Michael and Thor’s bonding, Prita went into labor. As was traditional, Loki and Hjert would be delivering the baby, and they bustled off to Prita’s room with well wishes from Styrk, Cas, and Ben who had been present and Styrk promised to let Thor and Michael know, this being a day that they were in heaven. 

As they had agreed beforehand, Hjert sat behind Prita, supporting her and holding her hand, while Loki delivered the baby. Of course it was quite a while before he was needed so he had plenty of time to join them in the bed and offer his own support. At one point, he leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Thank you so much,” he whispered to her gratefully. 

Hjert squeezed her gently, pressing his own kiss to the top of her head as he added, “There aren’t enough words to say how much this means to us.”

“Happy…to help,” she managed to croak out as another contraction hit. 

Six hours after the first contraction, Loki was holding his newborn son in his arms, and he felt his eyes fill with tears as he looked at the tiny face, but before he could get too lost in him though, Prita was pushing again. He handed their son to Hjert, who held him reverently as Loki prepared to help Prita pass the placenta, but was surprised to see a second head starting to crown. He had been the only one that could sense them…other than Michael of course…but he had deliberately not looked, wanting to be surprised as all new parents are, and he was certainly surprised. Those amused knowing looks that Michael had been shooting him the last few months made a little more sense now as he started coaxing her through the second baby.

It wasn’t long before he was now holding his daughter in his arms and the look of awe and joy on Hjert’s face mirrored his own. Once it was all over, they wrapped up the two infants and took them to Prita. She deserved to be the first to see them. “They’re beautiful,” she said reverently despite her obvious exhaustion. It was a good thing that they had picked out a name for a boy and a girl, not knowing which they would have. Prita already knew the names they had picked out, so they left her to sleep, each of them pressing a kiss to her brow before they left with the children, promising to bring them back when they were hungry. 

The entered the common room to find the entire family gathered awaiting news, including Michael and Thor who had rushed back from heaven when they got word. “Everyone, meet Fraodin (Fray-oh-din) and Frida (Free-dah),” Loki said softly, seeing as Hjert was still beyond words right now. 

Thankfully, they all had the good sense not to rush at them and scare the babies and Loki and Hjert made the rounds and made sure everyone got a good look, though neither of them were willing to give them up just yet to let anyone hold them. When they got to Michael and Thor, Loki asked Michael, “How much longer will you be here?” assuming that he would be heading back to heaven soon since he wasn’t supposed to be away today at all. 

“We shuffled some schedules around. I’m here for a few weeks,” he said moving around next to Loki and pulling him into a tight side hug so as not to disturb Frida. “I am so happy for you baby brother,” he said pressing a kiss to Loki’s temple. “And so very proud of you,” he added before giving Hjert the same treatment. 

“Ditto for me, little brother,” Thor said joining the party and pulling Loki into just as tight of a hug. “Congratulations,” he said softly stroking the baby’s face as he kissed his brother’s head. 

“What do their names mean?” Ben asked curiously, knowing that no pagan gave a name without considering the meaning. 

“Fraodin means from Odin,” Hjert told him, knowing that Ben would realize that pagans would never give a child the same name as someone else, but this was as close as they could get. “Frida means wisdom.”

“Because Grandfather was a god of wisdom,” Ben said knowingly and the others all nodded. “Was my name in honor of him too?” he asked his father. 

“It was,” Styrk said. “He was also a god of war, and Bryndr means warrior.” Ben smiled brightly at that. He was glad he had a connection with the beloved late king as well. He just wished he could have met him. 

Pretty soon, Fraodin started to cry and Frida quickly followed her brother and the new fathers took them back to Prita so she could feed them. They had built a door from her room into the nursery which had a door on the other side that opened into their room. While Prita was feeding the babies, they went into the nursery and Loki snapped his fingers, creating a second cradle and changing table in the room. In true Asgard style, both of the cradles were raised off the floor a few feet and were capable of rocking back and forth with a slight push and would keep going until they were stopped. Loki placed the rocking chair between them for easy access and Hjert nodded his approval. Once Prita was done feeding them, they took them into their remodeled nursery and put them in their cradles to sleep. Sam sat down in the rocking chair, and Loki curled up in his lap as they spent the next few hours just watching their children sleep. “How did we ever get so lucky?” Hjert asked holding Loki close and placing a kiss to his neck. 

“I have no idea,” Loki said softly, not taking his eyes off his newborn babies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I left the ending open in case I decide to do a fifth part. If I do it will probably focus more on Ben and the new babies, and possibly add some more babies to the mix. It will probably be quite a while before I get around to it though, if I do one at all, so this is the end for now. Hope you enjoyed the ride :)


End file.
